Red West
by surrealgreen
Summary: Mysterious gates have been opening, leading to a strange world from which dangerous creatures emerge. Ed and company must travel to this world in order to find a way to close the gates. Saiyuki crossover.
1. Prologue

This is a fanfic I've been working on for a while. The prologue is really just to set the rest of the story up. I haven't seen all of the anime or read all of the manga, so I don't know how the series really ends—so I made something up. It will slowly be explained throughout the fic. This story is AU because I mix the manga and the anime and add what I feel like. Hope you like it, let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If I owned either story, you'd be paying to read this and I'd be rich.

Warning: Future Shounen Ai, mentions of rape, possible future rape, lots of violence (it is FMAxSaiyuki after all).

For a great picture of an older Ed check out http:circled.nce. Html

Take out the spaces. This is how I imagine Ed in this story minus the automail and with longer hair.

Summary: Saiyuki crossover. Gates connecting Armestris to another world have been opened and dangerous creatures are coming through. Ed, Al, Mustang and the gang go through the gates to try to close them only to get caught up in the mission of a certain priest and his youkai followers. Mentions of AlxWinry, later RoyxEd, possibly GojyoxSanzo (I haven't decided yet). May be more couples in the future.

Prologue

_When you have the power to do something, it's hard not to try._

_-Shou Tucker, episode 7_

It had been four long, eventful years since the defeat of the homunculi. Not all of their bodies had been found—neither Pride nor Envy were found among the recognizable dead. Dante and Hoenhiem had not been located, either. Perhaps their bodies had simply been destroyed—one could hope, anyway. Their plan was for naught. The philosopher's stone had been created, but not as a simple stone to be used indiscriminately. Only its maker had been able to use it—Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. It had not lasted very long, either. The stone was an ideal, not meant to be among the reality of man. Edward put the stone to good use, however, in its brief moment of conception, restoring his brother Alphonse to the body he had lost in a moment of youthful indiscretion, before destroying it. Unknown to many, this action was not without its consequences—its price.

Hubris. Those who heard of his crime called it many things—an unnatural act, an act of love, youthful foolishness. When the Strongarm Alchemist had heard the tale of the Elric brothers' failed attempt to resurrect their mother, he had sparkled, he was so touched at the act of unrelenting love. But Edward knew the truth was that it had been pure hubris. Oh, not on Al's part. On Al's part it had been honest love for their mother mixed with a strong belief in his older brother. That was what made it so bad. He led loving and trusting Al almost to his doom because of his damnable pride! True, Ed did love his mother very much. But even before her death he had been thinking about human alchemy. And how many alchemists had lost loved ones, but steered clear of human alchemy? They didn't love their dead families less, they just weren't so prideful that they believed they could cross into God's territory without consequence. Ed had been—he was so sure of his own ability that he had ignored the rules, ignored the warnings, and ignored his own doubts, as well as those of his brother. And ended up putting his beloved brother in the body of a cold, metal suit of armor! So when the opportunity came to provide his brother with a real, human, perfect body—the body Al should have had, _would_ have had—he didn't hesitate, despite the cost.

It was tricky, the philosopher's stone required subtle manipulation. After his own restoration at the hands of the homunculi, however, his guilt had been stronger than ever and he had been even more driven. He had, in all honesty, never intended to fix himself. He hadn't objected when Al said it was important, and had even go so far as to tell others that he wanted to, but it had been an act. The ever-painful automail was a small price to pay for his crime, and unimportant in the long run. So the price he paid to restore Al became his new punishment, albeit a more subtle one.

There was a small group of people who knew all or most of his secrets. He told them because they knew him too well for him to hide them. Chief amongst this group, and the fastest to figure him out by far, was Al. Al had known about his crime of hubris, of course—he had heard Ed speak of raising the dead even before their mother died, and seen Ed's willful blindness to all doubts that horrible night. He was Ed's nearly constant companion their whole lives, and so it didn't take him long to figure out Ed's problems even when he tried to keep them to himself. Al, ever-loving and the one most affected by Ed's crime, forgave him anyway. Mustang, too, understood the hubris behind the failed resurrection. He was there shortly after it happened, after all. He had understood the expression on Ed's eleven-year-old face that was not just pain or guilt or disappointment, but a mixture of the three and shock that his plan did not work. Perhaps, in the end, Mustang was too like Ed to not understand the pride that had driven Ed's actions. Ed suspected that both Hawkeye and Hughes understood, as well. Possibly because they were so good at reading people in general, possibly from years of reading Mustang, who was so similar to Ed in so many ways (though both Ed and Mustang would deny it, Ed fuming and Mustang snapping his fingers in warning—they both secretly knew it to be true). Winry should have known it, but perhaps she was fooling herself. She didn't want to see it in her childhood friend, especially one she admired so—a temperamental, driven genius. Pinako made sure Ed knew that she knew and forgave him. She was the only one who ever came out and said it to his face, because she felt it needed to be said. She, too, had heard him speak of human alchemy long before his mother's death. And, of course, Sensei Izumi understood. She had committed the same crime herself, after all. She couldn't forgive him any more than she could forgive herself, but it didn't stop her from caring for him. These people, they all knew him so well. So it was no surprise when they figured out that he had lost something when he and his brother were restored.

He told no one at first. Partially out of embarrassment, partially as a manner of self-flagellation, and partially because he did not want to worry Al. For the first time in years, Al was in his human body again. Ed knew it could not last, but he wanted Al to believe that the restoration had no consequences for as long as possible. He knew Al would feel guilty when he found out that Ed was the one who paid the price for Al's body, even though Ed had paid it willingly. But time passed all to quickly, and Al soon realized that something was wrong with Ed. He slept more, bruised easier, sparred less, and ate less. Even his feisty temper seemed dimmed at times. At first, Al told himself his brother was recovering from the ordeal with the Homunculi or becoming accustomed to their new lives, but it went on too long. Something was wrong. So, finally, after six months of strange behavior, Al confronted Ed.

"Brother, what is it? Don't lie to me or try to protect me. You know I can figure you out too easily. Just tell me, honestly. It's from the restoration, isn't it?" Al asked softly.

"Yeah—knew you'd find out eventually. I didn't not tell you to hide it from you, I just… wanted you to enjoy your new body without having to worry about me. But yeah, it is from the restoration. When the moment came, equivalent exchange demanded I give something, so I gave my health."

"Your…health?"

"Yeah. I'm better of than sensei or mother. Nothing is missing, and I'm not dying. The stone protected me that much. I'm just…weaker. I get tired easier, bruise easier, can't eat a lot of stuff without feeling bad. I can't lift as much or hit as strong—that's why I haven't been sparring with you much. I knew you'd figure out way too quickly. I also can't take hits as well, and I'll probably get sick a lot easier. Before you say anything, I did this willingly and have no regrets."

"Ed you, you, you…IDIOT! How could you do this? We could have found another way!" cried a tearful Al. He wanted to hit Ed, but was now afraid of hurting his suddenly fragile brother.

"Al, I couldn't wait any longer. I had to. It's better this way. Please, _please_ don't be mad," begged Ed.

It was an emotional afternoon, and it took a while for both brothers to calm down. Al was still upset, but forgave Ed as always. He wasn't so sure he could forgive himself, but Ed would hear none of that. It was his choice and his rightful punishment as far as he was concerned. Al barely stopped himself from crying when he learned that Ed believed he deserved to be this way, to be punished, but he knew that it would solve nothing and only further distress his brother. Al was by nature a peace-maker, and so he made peace with this new reality. What else could he do? A day later he went with Ed to Colonel Mustang's office, where the Colonel waited along with Hawkeye and Hughes, as per Ed's request. The three of them were too sharp, knew Ed too well, not to figure something out on their own if they hadn't already. Gracia was too, but Ed would let Hughes tell her. The brothers would face the Rockbelles later, together. With his brother's strong support, Ed chokingly confessed his newfound weakness to his mentor and superior under the watchful eye of Hawkeye and the concerned gaze of Hughes.

They learned to deal with Ed's…condition. It wasn't so hard, really. In the aftermath of the homunculi debacle, both the army and its leadership reformed. Had to, considering that the Furher, the dictator with limitless authority, turned out to be a homunculus. No longer could the powerful government that enjoyed the martial state of the nation, be ruled by one man. A council was formed, consisting of the most influential officers in the army as well as civilian representatives, chosen by the people. It was ponderous at first, but smoothed itself out over the years. The military council members retained their rank and position separate from their council duties. Not all council members were created equal—the top five council members had power over the rest of the council, and were military heroes from both the Ishval war and the battle with the homunculi. This fit Roy Mustang to a tee. The erstwhile colonel soon found himself a general and one of the five leaders of the council.

Emboldened by his new, long-sought after power, Mustang did what he had wanted since the Ishval war. He began to use the military to help the people, not just to control them. He also, with the full support of the council, declared that national alchemists would no longer be used as weapons of war. Their new job was reconstruction of the areas harmed by both the Ishval war and the machinations of the homunculi. Really, they went anywhere they were needed, serving as engineers, healers, investigators, and whatever else they could do with their powers to be helpful. The title of national alchemist began to lose its stain. This helped strengthen Alphonse's resolve to become a national alchemist. He and Ed were soon partners, working together on whatever assignment they were given. Though this did not really differ from the dynamic they had shared since Ed became a national alchemist, it gave Al a legitimate reason to be with his brother on his trips, protecting against all danger (much to Ed's annoyance—he didn't need protection!). Those trips became fewer and fewer, though, as the two focused more and more on research. As great as they were in the field, no one could beat them in a library. So they became alchemists who put out the worst fires (because they were the best at it) and spent the rest of their time creating new theory.


	2. New Horizons

See prologue for disclaimer, summary, and warnings.

* * *

Ch. 1

New Horizons

_I wanna feel things again!_

_Its strange…We've been right beside each other all this time…and yet I can't remember what your skin feels like, or how you smell._

_-Alphonse Elric, episode 6_

They created a striking group, the four of them. Four years and new authority had little changed General Mustang's appearance. The man was still as handsome as ever with his midnight hair and fathomless black eyes. Though he was only the upper end of medium height and sleek rather than bulky with muscle, he exuded an air of power that made him seem a giant. The man had _presence_. Of course, he had exuded the same air for as long as Ed had known him. His navy uniform, cut a little fancier to display his higher rank, was set off by his familiar white gloves. The three attractive blondes that followed close behind him contrasted his dark looks nicely. One of those blondes was, of course, Lieutenant Colonel Liza Hawkeye. As a Lieutenant Colonel she technically should no longer be Mustang's aide, but no one had the courage (or stupidity) to tell her she had to quit the job she'd been doing so well for so long. She was as beautiful now as she had been four years ago and, like Mustang, had changed little. When let down, her straw-colored hair was a bit longer. But one never saw it let down when she was on duty, for it remained in the same business-like bun it always had. Her uniform was fancier, too, but she was essentially the same eye-catching yet restrained beauty she had always been. The two young men next to her, however, had changed much more noticeably.

Alphonse Elric, now eighteen, was a tall young man. His hair was the color of bronze when it has been polished and shined and his skin carried a healthy tan. His face was handsome, but kept boyish by his large, soft, round eyes the color of milk chocolate. When he was a suit of armor, though his body language had been amazingly expressive, he had been incapable of showing much facial expression. The gentle look he usually carried on his face these days surprised no one who had known him as armor, however—it was the look they had always imagined on the soft-spoken boy. It softened his handsome features making him approachable and friendly looking. The broad shoulders that evened out his tall frame flowed down to narrow hips above long legs. It was no surprise that young women swooned over him—it broke their hearts to find out he was already taken by a young country mechanic with an acerbic wit and a dangerous wrench.

With beautiful Hawkeye behind Mustang to the right and handsome Al behind him to the left, Mustang found that it was the person in the middle who was the most striking. Edward Elric at nineteen had grown four inches taller than the five feet even he had despised at fifteen. He was still sensitive about his abnormally short height, but controlled his irritation much better. If he hadn't grown much, his hair had. It now reached his waist, though it was currently tied back in the business-like braid that he used when accompanying Mustang on official business. His bangs were the same old mess, antenna poking up in his part. His hair retained its bright gold color, a few shades lighter than Al's hair. His hair was the first thing most people noticed about him (after his height, anyway), whether in its tight braid, the loose, sexy ponytail he used when researching, or when, on rare occasion, he let it hang free, startling in its beauty. His eyes were the next, the same gold color as his hair, large and catlike, dominating his face. His perfectly oval face, thinned from it childlike roundness, was finely featured, delicate even—though wise men would avoid the d-word within his hearing…as well as the

word (pretty), the f-word (fragile), the g-word (girly), any number of s-words (short, shrimp)…you get my drift. He was as slender at nineteen as he had been at fifteen—he had not, in fact, gained a pound, and his body resisted adding muscle. This, along with his lack of height, was very likely as much related to his weakened condition, his sacrifice to restore Al, as to any genetics. So his build was lithe and small. If Hawkeye's feminine beauty attracted the eye of nearly every man and Al's boyish handsomeness had women of all ages swooning, Ed's lithe, unusual beauty attracted admirers of both sexes.

Ironically enough, none of the three was aware of the effects of their good looks. Hawkeye was aware that she was good looking (she'd been hit on too often not to know), but was more concerned with her duty than with her looks. Al and Ed were truly clueless as to how attractive they were. They blamed any and all attention they achieved to their fame, and so scorned it. Neither would date someone who wanted to hang off of their celebrity. Al could honestly accept Winry's attentions because they had known her long enough to know she really cared about them, and wasn't the type of girl to lie about such things anyway. But Winry's assurances that they were indeed very attractive were considered biased. And so the three walked behind Mustang, unaware of the pretty picture they presented, or of the nicknames they garnered, such as Mustang's "bevy of blondes" or "the harem". Those who had not seen the three in action assumed that the three aides, one military and two alchemical, were chosen because of their looks. Mustang's reputation as a seducer of all things pretty supported this foolish view. He was aware of the rumors and nicknames, but wisely kept such knowledge to himself. He actually didn't think it was a bad thing that the three of the sharpest people he knew, his three greatest assets, were so underestimated. They were also eye-catching enough to distract from other things, such his other aides who always followed closely—Lieutenant Colonels Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Fury. These three didn't mind staying in the background. Havoc (another handsome blonde, but he could usually manage to avoid the spotlight), very aware the rumors, found it all very amusing. Like Mustang, he would go to his grave before admitting it to the three blondes—admitting it would be a death sentence, anyway.

And so Mustang and his followers and friends marched towards the new council building the nerve center of the new government, presenting a picture which was becoming Mustang's signature—the dashing General-Councilman followed by the three blonde aides surrounded surreptitiously by thefour lieutenant colonels. The building was in the very center of Central City—it was all very symbolic. Mustang had received a call early that morning, calling for an emergency meeting of the council to deal with the new threat of the gates.

A week earlier, strange phenomena had begun to appear all over the country, with no apparent rhyme or reason. These phenomena, quickly coined gates, were like holes that opened into a whole other world. Surrounded by glowing blue electricity much like an alchemical reaction, the landscape on the other side of the vaguely circular gates rarely corresponded even remotely to the landscape surrounding it. In the middle of a desert a gate appeared that showed a thickly grown primordial forest. A gate in the grasslands, conversely, showed a desert. Just outside of central city a gate had appeared that showed a similar desert fading into grasslands. In the distance were the unmistakable signs of a city. As if the gates weren't enough, things had begun to come through the gates.

At first glance the creatures appeared human. But a closer look found long, pointy ears, long sharp claws, and fangs. Those unfortunate enough to get an even closer look found superhuman strength and speed, as well as an insane fury and hunger for human flesh. Too many people had died before the creatures were stopped by the military. It appeared that the new government must take action soon.

As the council members filed in and took their placed, Mustang thought of what he was going to say. He'd had the Elric brothers study the gate outside of the city, and what they had found was disturbing to say the least. It was alchemy, at least partly, keeping the gates open. And they showed no sign of closing anytime soon, if ever. They could not be shut from one side alone, but must be closed from both sides. In other words, in other to shut these gates and keep the creatures out, someone over there would have to help them. And someone from over _here_ would have to go over _there_. And, for some reason, _he _was going to volunteer. All right, not just some reason, a very good reason. His people were the best equipped to figure out how to close the gates and why it opened in the first place, and he had the governmental power to back up any deals made with the government of the land through the gate. Still, it was a trip he faced with almost as much dread as the daunting task of convincing the council to let him go.

* * *

Once again alone in the privacy of his office, Mustang looked at his employees closely. Liza was as stoic as always, but Ed was beginning to show the signs of wear that few could see—the paler skin and tiny stress lines at the corners of his eyes and between his brows. Al was the most obvious sign, of course—he was always the first to realize when Ed tired himself out and his worry was palpable. Of course Ed must be exhausted, Mustang himself was tired. The council meeting had been long and arduous, full of pompous old menand overly-idealistic young men arguing, but had ended as he intended. In only a few days he and his handpicked team would be crossing the gate outside the city in an attempt to find some resolution to the country's problem. Now to pick the team. If willing, all of his people would be going.

"Well, is there anyone who doesn't wish to go? If there is speak now, there is no shame in not going. We need people here, too, you know. In fact, Ed…"started Mustang.

"I'm going," interrupted Ed, his husky tenor only slightly more tense than usual—whether from exhaustion or suppressed anger was hard to say. Oh well, at least he was bothering to suppress his anger these days.

Mustang sighed. He had suspected that Ed would not be left behind, but had hoped otherwise. Oh, well. He caught the look Al gave him, but didn't press Ed. Al should know by now that where Ed wanted to go, he went. The rest of Mustang's staff also showed no interest in backing out. Their loyalty was heartwarming, but it also sent a chill down Mustang's spine. Just that many more friends he could lose. Still, his team worked well together.

"In that case, everyone be packed and ready to go in three days. We'll be given a small honor guard, but that's no reason for us to not be prepared to fight if necessary, so come armed. But not obviously so, since we are going into the territories of others. Edward, bring medical provisions," said Mustang, getting down to business.

In the years since their restoration, the two brothers had taken to separate specialties in alchemy. Ironically, it was the gentle younger brother who was the fighter and the feisty elder brother who was a healer. Those who had fallen victim to Ed's legendary temper would be absolutely shocked at how gentle and efficient he could be when treating wounds or illness. Part of his interest in medicine stemmed from years of looking into human alchemy, which included some types of healing alchemy, and part from his time spent studying with the alchemists of Xing, where alchemy was used primarily for healing. But the truth was that Ed had been as close to death as he ever wanted to be. Healing others answered something in him, healed wounds inside of Ed that couldn't be seen. Not that he had any problem beating down those who deserved it (such as those poor souls foolish enough to call him short), but those were not real battles, not life-or-death. As for gentle Al, he had always been a surprisingly ruthless and capable fighter when need be. It was best, really, that one who fought so well was one so full of compassion. He was never unnecessarily violent, but instead used his abilities to be a protector of those who could not protect themselves. Of all of the criminals he had apprehended since becoming a state alchemist (and there had been quite a few in the tumultuous results of a restructured government), not one had been killed. He captured them all alive and relatively unharmed. Those few he had had to harm had been patched up by a bitching but efficient Ed. His title was the Shieldknight Alchemist, in respect to his job as a protector of the public. Given their specialties, it was expected that Ed would be the healer on this trip.

"All right everyone, we have a lot of preparing to do! I suggest you get started now—Edward, not you. I want to talk to you privately. Al, you stay too," said Mustang, dismissing the majority of his staff.

Edward knew what to expect. It was the same "don't overdo it" speech he heard before every dangerous mission he had been on the last four years. Dammit! He knew he was weaker, but he could handle himself! He ground his teeth in anticipation of the lecture to come.

"I'm not going to lecture you this time. I know that you think I'm overprotective and annoying, and maybe you're right. But the truth is that you are one of my most valued employees. Hell, Ed, you can do alchemy without a circle, and that's as impressive as hell. I know I don't say this a lot…" Mustang began, smirking as he saw the utterly shocked look on Ed's face "but its true. Its also true that, despite the fact that you have matured, you are one of the most temperamental people I have ever known. So try not to start any fights, please," finished the general, smirk growing as he saw Ed's face redden with the realization that what started out as a compliment ended up as a rather insulting lecture.

"WHAT THE HELL…" started Ed, but he abruptly shut up as Mustang chuckled. His reaction only proved Mustang's words. So Ed swallowed his anger, ignoring both Mustang's amusement and Al's worry.

"Oh, and while the two of you are here, I have something to add. The three of us, along with General Armstrong (yes, he's going too), will be the only alchemists on this trip, and we have no idea how the people on the other side of that gate will react to alchemy…so don't use it unless you have to and try not to be seen using it, at least for now," said Mustang, idly fiddling with his gloves. He looked up to see Ed's grudging nod and Al's expected agreement.

"Okay boys, go get packed. Bring at least one nice outfit, we may get lucky and be feted upon our arrival. Oh, and Ed? Way to swallow that anger," the general said with a smug smirk.

"Grrrr…"

Three days later the company stood before the gate outside of Central City and prepared to venture into an unknown world.


	3. An Interesting Complication

Ch. 2

An Interesting Complication

_Hold nothing._

_If you meet Buddha, kill him._

_If you meet the Patriarchs, kill them._

_Free of all, bound by nothing…_

_You live your life simply as it is._

_-Sanzo, book 4_

Gojyo growled in irritation as the monk made plans to go see this stupid gate thing outside the city the next day. Dammit, they had a mission, didn't they? What did this gate have to do with stopping the minus wave or getting the sutras? Not a damn thing as far as he could tell. So they got to spend another night in this small city. Damn. They hadn't seen a good-sized city for months now, and the inn they were staying at, though the finest in the town, left much to be desired. Oh, fuck it. He wasn't going to spend another night being annoyed by Goku, ignored by Sanzo (when not being threatened with death), and losing at cards to Hakkai. This was a city, so there had to be a gambling house with normal, beatable humans. He was going.

"Don't get killed, pervert!" said a chipper Goku.

"Don't worry, stupid monkey, I think I can take care of myself," replied Gojyo as he left the inn, ignoring Sanzo's cold glare and Hakkai's concerned look.

And so he found himself wandering alone in the market when the foreigners came. Number one giveaway that they were foreign were the cars they rode in, a line of shiny black vehicles that were parked out of the city. The second giveaway was the strange clothes they wore, clearly some kind of uniform. The third was the way they marched in like they thought they were in a parade. He found his gaze drawn to the front of the party, where a handsome black-haired man led the way without hesitation followed closely by three damn fine-looking blondes. Being the womanizer that he was, his eyes found the woman first, but the boy (it was a boy, right?) with the long blonde hair next to her was just as pretty. He'd happily tumble either. Then again, recent experience had taught him that blondes were more trouble than they were worth. Oh, well, maybe he would worry about them tomorrow. Or Sanzo would. Whatever. Right now he had a gambling house to find.

The redhead quickly found just such an establishment and went about the business of becoming a wealthy man, at least until he spent his new funds. He hadn't had this kind of fun in far too long. Sure, Sanzo was going to be pissed that he spent most of the night here (and he did intend to spend most of the night here), especially after the foreigners showed up, but what the hell. He was enjoying separating fools from their money and being fawned over by the local—well, he wasn't sure yet if they were actually whores or just sluts. There was nothing like the smoky, smarmy, sleazy atmosphere of a good bar. After a few hours, he decided to take a break. Wait and see if some new fools came in, fools with money left, because he'd pretty much cleaned out the place. So he drank and entertained the ladies for a while, and sure enough, the fools he'd played wandered out, tails between legs, while new money wandered in. He was considering forgetting about gambling and taking a "lady" or two upstairs when a glint of gold caught his eye.

Well, damn, if it wasn't the foreign boy with the long hair. The hair was no longer in its business-like braid, but was now pulled into a sloppy ponytail, bangs falling messily around his face and hair slipping out. Looking closer, Gojyo realized that the boy was older than he originally, maybe sixteen—_hmm, maybe not too young_. Even prettier close up, too. He really stood out in the smoky, beer-stinking bar gambling house. Even without his uniform, he looked cleaner and more put together than any of the sloppy drunks, gamblers, and loose women in the place. He looked hotter, too, in his fitted black pants and sleeveless black shirt that had material thin enough to cling to his slim torso enticingly, even though it was a little loose on him. He wore a strange, thick metal cuff decorated with a strange symbol—a snake upon a cross—on his right wrist. His startling gold eyes took in the room without the slightest hint of fear, even though he'd caught the attention of pretty much everyone in the room. Gold like Goku's eyes—but cat-like with an almond shape rather than Goku's roundness. Gojyo decided to sit back and watch for a bit.

It was fun to watch the boy work the room. He didn't flatter, didn't act like a fool, didn't get friendly with the others. He simply sat down at a gambling table with dignity and a game started around him. People were drawn by his good looks, and the idiots obviously assumed because he was young he was an easy target. The fools soon learned to regret this. In short order the boy had a pile of money in front of him and a drunk in his face.

"You cheated, you little bastard! No way you could have won fair!" shouted the drunk, pulling his fist back for a punch.

Gojyo's first instinct was to intervene. The kid was so little, he looked like he'd break from the punch. But it was not necessary—the punch never landed. Instead the drunk go a boot to the face fromthe irate little blonde. It was a while before the drunk got up again. After that, the kid won his earnings in peace. Dumbasses kept going and losing their money to the kid, each thinking that they'd somehow do better than the other poor losers. The kid was good. But he wasn't a professional card shark, and he was lucky that Gojyo was the only professional in the place. It didn't take Gojyo long to realize that the kid was counting cards. Still, it was impressive. It was damn hard to count cards in poker. Kid must be smart.

When the kid began scooping up his winnings, leaving behind cowed, broken men, Gojyo realized that he'd spent the last half of his evening just watching the kid. Hmm, interesting. Not many people could catch his interest for so long without him even being aware. Hakkai had when he'd stumbled into Gojyo's life with his pretty face and kill-me-please eyes. Sanzo had with his blonde beauty and fuck-you attitude (dammit!). Goku, even, with his childish mind and ruthless bloodthirst. Now this kid, too, with his pretty hair and face, his fearlessness and audacity. Not to mention his bodyguard. Gojyo had seen the man slip in not long after the boy and fade into the background. Another blonde, but his hair was short and spiky, and not nearly as eye-catching as the boy's. He was tallish and in shape and dressed similar to the boy, though his pants were the same navy as the uniforms they had worn earlier—probably what they all wore underneath those uniforms. Despite his slouching and the cigarettes constantly dangling from his lips (man smoked more than Sanzo!), something about the man screamed military. He hid it well, but kept a watchful eye on the boy. Gojyo wondered whether the kid knew about his bodyguard? As the kid finished gathering his winnings and headed toward the bar, Gojyo decided to introduce himself.

"Do you have clean water?" Ed asked doubtfully, sitting next to Havoc. Did the idiot really think that newspaper hid him?

"That wasn't very polite," said an amused voice right behind his left ear. Ed jumped a little then frowned. He hadn't heard the man approach. He looked over his shoulder to see who had gotten so close to him without him knowing and why his voice was familiar. He didn't know the man—must be as tall as Al, but with long red hair and red eyes. And people said Ed's eyes were weird. The thin but muscular redhead wore a tank-top and strange tan colored pants that puffed out up top but were tight on his calves, tucked into brown leather hiking boots. His blood-red hair was allowed to flow loose and messy to his shoulders, and he had two strange-looking scars on his cheek. What caught Ed's attention most, however, was the way he stood. He was slouching, standing comfortably, but with a kind of wary readiness to his limbs that only a fighting man and a damn good one could achieve. When Ed looked more closely at the man he realized why his voice sounded familiar. It wasn't the voice, per say, but the tone of voice. The same tone that damn colonel-no, general-used. This man's voice was even deeper than Mustang's, and smooth where Mustang's was slightly rough (_husky, sex_y), but the tone was the same as was the infuriating smirk.

"You're good, kid, but how would you like a pro to show you the ropes?" asked the man, smirk widening.

Reigning in his anger, Ed replied "I don't need a tutor—and I don't need a bodyguard, either," he added, turning to Havoc and ripping his paper out of his hands. He ignored the amused chuckle of the redhead.

"General's orders, boss. No one goes off by themselves," replied Havoc with aplomb. He knew Ed too well to be easily intimidated, unfortunately.

"But I don't need…"

"I know you don't, that's why I volunteered to stick close to you. Less work for me, I just have to stay where I can see you. Plus, you always know how to find the fun places" grinned Havoc.

Growling, Ed turned to leave, forgetting about his water and ignoring the redhead, who was still chuckling, damn him. He also ignored Havoc, who gave up trying to be incognito and just walked beside him. He knew Havoc had been lying about picking him because he was an easy assignment—he was in one of the worst parts of the city and looked like an easy target. This late at night on his own, it wouldn't be a surprise if he were jumped. And, while he could still fight well enough, one hard punch and he was down for the count and he had agreed not to use alchemy cavalierly. Havoc's presence alone made it less likely that he would be attacked. Better Havoc than Al, who would have been fretting over his gambling and likely would have broken bones over some of the propositions Ed had received that night. Damn perverts were everywhere. But still, it rankled to have a babysitter. No use taking it out on Havoc, though. He might would have four years ago, but had grown up since then. Plus, the comment Mustang had made about controlling his temper still stung.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice that they were being followed for a few minutes. A quick glance to his right showed that Havoc had noticed. They were in a narrow street with lots of dark alleys between the poorly constructed wooden buildings. They had left the street of gambling establishments, whorehouses, and bars, and all of the buildings were closed up and locked at this time of night. Who knew where those alleys led or what was down them. Still, at least the street was deserted. If he had to use alchemy, only Havoc and their pursuer would see him. Turning, he was surprised to see that it was none other than the redhead from the bar.

"What the hell do you want? Why are you following me?" demanded Ed suspiciously. He could see out of the corner of his eye Havoc casually reaching into his pocket where a gun was probably hidden.

"Don't flatter yourself kid. You're cute, but not that cute," Gojyo lied (the kid was that cute if Gojyo had any taste for forcing others, but he didn't), "I'm just headed back to my hotel. Same place your groups staying at, I bet. The only decent sized inn in town."

"Hmf," was Ed's only reply before he smartly turned and continued on towards the hotel. That damned redhead was chuckling again, reminding him of Mustang more than ever. Why did men like them seem to find his anger amusing?

As he walked beside the two blondes toward the hotel, Gojyo couldn't help find the kid kind of funny. He was as easy to rile up as Sanzo, but he hadn't pulled a gun yet. And he was a good deal cuter than Sanzo—not prettier, necessarily, but cuter. Kind of like a kitten, growling its cute little growl and batting its little claws around. He chuckled again at the imagery.

_Damn,_ Ed thought as he felt a sudden wave of exhaustion sweep over him. He'd gotten used to becoming suddenly tired over the last few years, but apparently he'd overdone it today. _Damn,_ he reiterated, _Mustang's gonna gloat and Al's gonna freak if I don't make it back alright_. He was grudgingly glad that Havoc was there. The man wouldn't do or say anything unless it was necessary, and if it became necessary he could take care of Ed. Ed gritted his teeth, determined that it not come to that. The rest of the trip was kind of a blur as he concentrated on walking without stumbling. He hoped that the rooming situation had been worked out because he was going to bed as soon as he got to the hotel. He ignored the strange looks the redhead gave him and was truly grateful that Havoc pretended not to notice.

When he reached the hotel the noticed Mustang and Armstrong right away in the common room, sitting and talking with three other men, Hawkeye and Al sitting watchful close by. Al looked up and, seeing Ed, quietly left the table and switched placed with Havoc. The annoying redhead went straight to the table Mustang and the strangers were at and pulled up a seat. He was welcomed with a warm smile from the dark-haired stranger and a sharp glare from the blonde in weird robes.

"Brother, you look tired. Where have you been? I'll take you up to your room. You shouldn't run off!" Al couldn't seem to decide whether he wanted to scold Ed or mother him—so he did both at the same time.

Ed just sighed wearily, letting Al lead him up the rickety stares to a small room. Al was worried when Ed let him just manipulate him like a doll or small child, changing him into the loose cotton pants and tee he slept in. Ed didn't even notice that the small room had two beds and three suitcases—the inn was too small for everyone to get their own room. Ed and Al would be sharing with Hawkeye who, of course, got her own bed. The brothers would share the other. It wouldn't be a problem for them, they were used to sharing, but it would be awkward with Hawkeye. They didn't usually room with girls (_gulp_). But Ed was too tired for that to be a problem tonight. He would go to bed as soon as Al could force him to eat supper and sleep like the dead until the following morning. As usual when Ed had worn himself out, Al would wait until the last possible moment to wake his brother up.

When Ed got this tired, eating was a chore. Everything was unappetizing enough to border on nauseating, but if he didn't eat he would be sick in the morning. He managed to choke down some bread and meat before falling back on the bed and entering slumber. He felt Al gently arrange him in a comfortable position and cover him with the blanket. A small smile appeared on his half-asleep face. Al really was such a good brother. Ed's last thought as he sank blissfully into sleep was a wish that he not have any nightmares that night.

* * *

Gojyo was a little worried about the kid. About halfway to the hotel he realized that the fight had gone right out of the feisty blonde and he seemed tired. When they'd entered the brightly lit common room of the hotel, he'd seen how pale the kid was. He'd been pale before, but a healthy pale with a hint of golden tan and a bit of pink in his cheeks and lips. Now he was ashen with dark circles under his eyes. But someone soon came to collect the kid—the other blonde guy in the trio he'd noticed earlier today. Despite the height difference and the different shapes of their eyes—round versus almond—there was a clear resemblance between the two boys. The taller boy efficiently rounded up the tired kid and began fussing and scolding all at once. 

Gojyo smiled to himself at the sound as he headed over to the table where his friends sat—as well as the handsome dark-haired man he'd seen leading the foreigners earlier. He must not have watched long enough. Sitting at the same table was a huge—_huge_—man, mostly bald but for a curl of blond on his forehead and a big handlebar mustache on his lip. The man sported merry blue eyes, a cheerful grin, and enough muscles to shame a bull. Both men wore the same navy uniforms as earlier, and the dark-haired man was speaking seriously with Sanzo.

As reached the table he was given the expected glare from Sanzo as well as a warm smile from Hakkai. He pulled up a chair, noticing a speculative look from the dark-haired man.

"General Mustang, General Armstrong, this is Gojyo, another member of our party. Gojyo, this is Generals Mustang and Armstrong. They're from the land through the gate, and they've come to try to fix the problem," said Hakkai, catching Gojyo up on the conversation he'd missed. Sanzo, as usual, simply ignored him after a dirty look.

"Yo," he said simply, grinning his trademark half-smile.

From Mustang he received a reserved "Hello" in return, but Armstrong turned on him with intimidating cheer, grabbing his hand in a handshake and sparkling with happiness.

"Wonderful to meet you!" effused the giant, muscle-bound bundle of happiness.

"Yeah," replied a stunned Gojyo, ignored Sanzo's smirk.

After a few minutes of handshaking, the table returned to the earlier conversation. Gojyo noticed that Goku was sitting in the corner behind the table, slumped in his chair fast asleep. His mouth was wide open, and he was drooling just a little bit, Gojyo noted with amusement.

"So, you think that these people in the west, the ones you're after, may have opened the gates? Well, if that's the case, we'll join you on your trip west," said Mustang after a few minutes.

"No," said Sanzo without hesitation. "We have a job to do, we don't need a bunch of foreigners slowing us down."

"We've got our own cars. We'll just follow you. If we start to slow you down, just leave us. I don't think that will be a problem, though," Mustang replied smoothly, not at all perturbed by Sanzo's rudeness.

Sanzo narrowed his eyes. He didn't like to be back-talked. But he could hardly tell this man that he was not allowed to go west. So Sanzo would probably just hope that the foreigners fell behind quickly.

"Fine—tomorrow we're planning on getting our own look at this gate, though. You should come with us and tell us what you know about it."

Gojyo felt his eyes widen in shock. Wow. Not only did Sanzo not put a bullet hole in this guy, he was suggesting working together with him, if only temporarily. _Well, well,_ though Gojyo, _this is gonna be an interesting complication._

* * *

_Climax: I'm so glad you like the story so far! I'll try to update regularly. I really appreciate your feedback!_

_So far Climax is the only one to review-so if you like my story so far, please let me know! Constructive criticism is welcome. Warning-its going to get darker in the next chapter. Oh, and, just so you know Hughes is ALIVE in this universe-I like him too much to have him die. He just couldn't come on the trip and leave Gracia and Elysia behind. You might see him later, though. Anyways, thanks for reading!_


	4. Nightmares and New Days

Warning: This chapter starts off pretty dark. Most of the following chapters will have similar dark interludes and nightmares. If you are disturbed by rape/torture, you may not want to read. I'm sorry, but I really like to torture the characters I like best (poor Ed!).

Disclaimer: I own nothing! I am poor! Don't sue me, it isn't worth the legal fees.

* * *

Ch. 3

Nightmares and New Days

_A painless lesson is one without any meaning.__One who does not sacrifice anything cannot achieve anything._

_-Fullmetal Alchemist, book 1 part 1 _

_The first thing Ed noticed was the pain that seemed to wrack his entire body, starting at the base of his skull where he'd been hit. The second was that his right arm and left leg felt strange. Automail hooked directly into the nerves, but it wasn't like true flesh. What would be pain for flesh felt more like pressure to automail nerves, and cold and heat didn't register at all. But not only did his artificial limbs hurt, they were as cold as the rest of him, lying on the stone floor._

_Ed slowly opened his eyes to look at his right hand curled in front of his face where he lay on his side. It was…not automail. It was a flesh and blood hand. He flexed his fingers experimentally, and gave a small gasp when they moved just as they should. His arm was fixed. He wearily raised his head to stare down his bruised body to his left leg. His pants had been cut off that leg high up on the thigh, exposing most of his smooth, slim, now fully flesh limb. He flexed his toes as he had his fingers, and they moved too. Rather than feeling joy, however, he felt confusion and dread. His wrists and ankles were tied together so tightly that it hurt, and red chafe marks showed on his skin. He wore only his sleeveless black undershirt and the mutilated black pants. _

_A low chuckle grabbed his attention and he looked up. The room he was in had been beautiful once. It was mostly white marble, with ornately carved pillars and a pattern in black on the floor. It was now dusty and dim, having fallen into disuse. He followed the line of the floor to the silhouette across the room. It may have been to dark for him to see the face, but he knew the distinctive silhouette, with its medium-height, slim build and long spiky hair. Envy. _

"_So you're awake, Fullmetal shrimp," the homunculus began as he walked across the room. "You know, I've been rethinking my nickname for you. You're not exactly full metal anymore, now are you? And shrimp are small like you, but they're ugly. You're more like a kitten—so cute when you get riled up, striking out with your little claws. Yeah, I think I'll call you kitty from now on."_

_Ed gritted his teeth as the homunculus approached, familiar outlandish clothing and mocking attitude as usual. _

"_Do you like our little present? I thought the automail looked kind of cool, myself, but big man in charge wanted you all fixed up. Not a bad thing, really—you got pretty legs."_

_Ed sucked in a deep breath as the homunculus dropped to his needs beside him and gently cupped Ed's cheek in his hand. Envy smiled evilly as he gently rubbed his thumb across Ed's full lower lip before lifting his hand and then quickly slapping Ed hard. Still groggy and tied up, Ed was unable to defend himself when Envy rolled him onto his back and straddled his hips. Envy grabbed Ed's tied hands and roughly pushed them to the floor above his head before settling down with his hands holding Ed's wrists in place, elbows on the floor beside Ed's head. _

"_You look good all tied up, kitten," the homunculus whispered in Ed's ear, breath hot and moist._

_The hands were everywhere—so was the mouth. And the pain, the blinding pain. He was dirty, omigod, he'd never be clean again, disgusting. Everything smelled like Envy. Ed cried, though he hadn't in years. He struggled, and whimpered, and lost all pride, but that just seemed to encourage Envy. Then…the pain…splitting Ed in two…no more, please…help…help…AAAUUGGGHH!_

Ed gasped as he opened his eyes. For a fearful moment of disorientation he couldn't remember where he was, and looked around the room. The light spilling through the small window told him it was morning, and the small, impersonal room with its two beds told him he was in an inn. Then he remembered—the gates. They were in another world. Still, the room looked much like many a room he and he brother had stayed in before. Wooden floors, whitewashed walls, pseudo-homey furniture. It was comforting, in a way, because he was so used to waking up in hotel rooms.

The rumpled sheets on the other side of the bed told him that Al had slept in the bed with him last night. Why, when there were two beds? The other bed didn't look slept in. In fact, it was so neatly made that it didn't look like it had been slept in in quite a while.

The door opened, and Al quietly walked into the room with a tray in his hands.

"Oh, you're awake," said Al. He was already dressed, though more casually today than yesterday. Technically, neither Ed nor Al were in the military, and so they weren't required to wear a uniform and rarely did so. They had worn their uniforms the previous day to make an impression.

Al had tailored his clothes after Ed's, which looked more formal and military than your average street clothes, but more casual than actual uniforms. Like Ed, he wore simple slacks with a light cotton undershirt and a short, high-collared coat. Unlike Ed, Al preferred to wear a warm brown color instead of stark black. His overcoat was similar to Ed's favorite red one, but a tan color instead. In the heat of this world, however, it was unlikely that either would wear their overcoats.

"I hope that's for me," Ed said, eyeing the breakfast on the tray. He wasn't really hungry—that nightmare tended to spoil his appetite—but he didn't want Al to worry and needed to eat anyway.

Ed shuddered as he suppressed the effects of the dream. It was a memory, really. Not even Al, who knew him so well, knew everything that had gone on when he had been a captive of the homunculi. He hadn't told anyone of the things Envy had done to him. The other homunculi had tormented him as well, but Envy seemed to have a special place in his heart for Ed. He had learned to fear Envy more than any of the other Homunculi or even Dante or his father. Envy, whose body had never been found. As much as he wanted to believe it, he didn't think that Envy was dead.

"Of course, brother" Al said, setting the tray on the small wooden table and eyeing his brother worriedly. He knew better than to say anything, though. Ed never talked about his nightmares and, if asked, would deny that anything was wrong. At least he'd slept.

Al had already packed Edward's things and laid out his outfit and bathing supplies so that Ed could get ready as quickly as possible. They still had plenty of time before Mustang planned for them to leave, but Ed liked to take long baths. Al had already bathed, but followed his brother down to the inn's crude bathhouse anyway. No way was he letting his brother go get nude in a place full of strangers all alone.

Ed held back his weary sigh as Al followed him. He could take care of himself, but he knew that Al would not just go away. Truth be told, he wasn't happy at the idea that Al had bathed by himself either. Besides, it felt kind of comforting to have Al there in the aftermath of that nightmare.

Ed sighed in relief as he settled in the small wooden bathtub—_I better damn well not get any splinters—_and the steaming water soothed his tense muscles. Those damn dreams really did a number on him, as did overexerting himself.

"So, Al, what'd I miss?"

"Well, there doesn't seem to be much of a government at all over here. And no real military, either. No one in this city is prepared to do anything about the gates or the people going through them except for maybe this one group. They're called the Sanzo group, it seems to be the leader's name. He's some kind of priest—don't look like that, brother, not all priests are con men—and he's on a mission of some kind. He says that the people who came through the gate are called youkai, and that they went mad because of something some people in the west did. He's trying to stop those people and reverse what happened to the youkai. He thinks that the people in the west may have been behind the gates. He's going to go study the gates in a little while, and we're going with them," Al fell silent as he watched his brother absorb all of the information.

"Brother, you remember how the gates were opened using alchemy and something else? Maybe the something else came from this world. Maybe this Sanzo can help us close the gate. He carries a strange scroll of some kind on his shoulder. He seems protective of it, but look at it if you are able. Some of the symbols there, well, they look like the symbols on the gates—you know, the symbols that weren't alchemical," Al said after a moment.

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Ed said, but their discussion was interrupted when the door opened and in walked a handsome blonde man.

The blonde was really, _really_ handsome, actually. His hair was long enough to hang down to his collar in back with shorter bangs falling to his eyes in front. His hair was a similar color to Ed's, like gold or the sun. He was tall and thin, which was easy to see in his jeans and tight black sleeveless shirt with strange arm warmers. He was all lean muscle, but his skin was pale and soft looking. His face was pretty, with unusual purple eyes, but fixed upon it was a sour look. He did not looked pleased to see them there as he headed towards the bathhouse's second tub.

"Hello, Mr. Sanzo," said Al, bowing respectfully. Ed just sat in his tub staring insolently, fighting the urge to shrink down and cover his nudity, even though the man couldn't seem to care less.

Sanzo just grunted in response, pulling the small curtain between the tubs closed to afford himself some privacy. The boy who'd spoken to him had been with the foreigners last night, and the other boy was probably one of their group too. He barely noticed that the two had gone quiet since he entered.

Ed quickly finished his bath and got out of the tub, wrapping himself in one towel as he used the other to begin the troublesome job of drying his long hair. He didn't mind bathing in front of Al. Al was his brother, and they'd done too much traveling, spent too much time together, and shared too many rooms for much modesty between them. But that easy comfort ended with Al. He hated the idea of anyone else seeing him naked. He knew it worried some of his friends that he was so body shy and showed no interest in dating or sex throughout his teen years, something most boys his age were constantly preoccupied with. But sex was almost repulsive and certainly frightening to Ed—just another little gift from Envy. He didn't feel comfortable until he was dry and dressed in his familiar black pants and undershirt. Then he and Al left the bathhouse and headed back to the room, as he continued to try to dry his long hair. It would take a long time to get completely dry, especially if he pulled it back, so he left it down for the time being.

He didn't know why he kept his long hair. It could be so annoying, and wasn't exactly the most masculine look—and Ed hated to be compared to a girl. It took forever to dry and got into everything if he didn't tie it back. But still, for some reason he was attached to it. Ah, here was the reason. Al settled onto the bed behind Ed and began slowly brushing Ed's hair to help it dry and remove the tangles. Al had always enjoyed playing with Ed's thick locks, even as a suit of armor. Al thought his hair was pretty. It had become kind of a ritual between them for Al to brush his hair like this. _Al isn't the only one who liked my hair_—Ed ruthlessly squashed that thought. He WAS NOT going to let Envy ruin his memories with Al. He sighed and settled back, letting the soft, repetitive tugging at his hair sooth him. As he began to relax his mood lifted. He stiffened briefly when the door opened, but it was only Hawkeye.

"Hello," he greeted, staring at her quizzically. She didn't seem to be coming to get them, so why was she here?

"Good morning," Hawkeye replied dryly. It was always cute to see the Elric brothers with their guard down, a rare occurrence. They were so close. It was just plain sweet to see Al brushing Ed's hair.

Ed watched in dawning horrified embarrassment as Hawkeye walked in, picked up one of the suitcases (three?) from the corner, put it on the second bed, and flipped it open. She quickly began to pull some of her belongings out of the suitcase and fiddle with them. It was clicking—two beds, but Al slept with him, three suitcases…Riza Hawkeye had slept in the same room as them. Ed actually eeped.

"You slept in here with us last night!" Ed gasped out.

Hawkeye looked up, hiding her amusement. "Of course. The inn is short on beds, so most people are sharing." She hid her grin as Ed turned red with embarrassment and Al flushed behind him.

"Oh…uh..of course," replied a dazed Ed. They had roomed with a girl! Hawkeye, of course, who he was used to, but still a girl!

"Come on, boys, time to leave in 15 minutes," Hawkeye said as she looked at her watch, snapping shut her case and leaving the room.

Ed's hair still wasn't dry yet, so he decided on a ponytail instead of a braid. It would never dry in a braid. Then he put his coat and boots on and he and Al were ready to go.

_Ed seems better this morning_, Roy Mustang thought as the brothers came downstairs. He'd noticed the night before when Ed had come in exhausted, but had been unable to do anything about it. He wasn't needed anyway. Al took care of his brother quite well when he got like that. Still, a part of him had wanted to rush over and coddle Ed—an instinct he knew well enough to suppress, both for Ed's sake and his own. Ed wouldn't want it and would probably hurt him if he tried. Sad truth was that he was attracted to the boy. No, not a boy. Ed had become a young man. Anything he may have felt for the pretty boy Ed had been was easy to squash because Roy WAS NOT attracted to children, dammit. It wasn't so easy to ignore his undeniable attraction to a grown-up, beautiful Ed. Yes, beautiful. Ed couldn't be called feminine, despite his slight build, long hair, and delicate features, but he wasn't exactly screaming masculinity either. His beauty seemed to surpass gender, like a well-crafted katana, slim and deadly and lovely—so it was not surprise to anyone that people of both genders drooled over him. But Roy refused to become one of those people. Even if Ed wasn't his subordinate, wasn't 14 years younger than Roy, he was entirely too dependant upon his mentor. Roy didn't want to take advantage of his young charge.

Roy had tried to keep from getting too close, but after seven years of working together it was hard not to get attached. From the first time he had seen Ed, in shock and pain, missing limbs, he had admired the boy's grit and determination. Ed may have looked broken to the casual observer, but there was a fire in his eyes that denied it. Working with the genius over the years had only increased that admiration. And the boy was so amusing when he got riled up, which was easy to do. When Ed had started to grow up, honest respect was added to the mix. It was more than just the physical that had enhanced Ed's beauty—the slight thinning of the face as he lost baby fat, the change in posture and build—it was a personality change as the boy learned a bit of self control. He began to wear his masks less and less and yet to control himself better. The masks, of course, were his characteristic triumphant smirk, which he used to cover any real pain or doubt, and his incoherent illogical anger, which he let loose at the slightest hint of insult. The effect was that Ed was more open and yet less frightening. And when he let loose that still rare, heart-felt smile…he could stop hearts and move mountains. Not that he didn't still have his temper or his admittedly well-earned pride. He hadn't lost anything—he had gained. He had learned that most people couldn't read him well enough to hurt him without those masks, and the people who mattered saw through them anyway. His new maturity as much as anything else made him sexy as hell.

NO! Roy would not think of Ed that way. As far as he knew, Ed had never shown any romantic interest in anyone. Not surprising, really. Ed spent most of his early teen years searching for the philosopher's stone. Before that, he had either lived in a small town with people he had known all his life, or with his sensei, studiously learning alchemy. Few people realized it, but behind his temper and away from the subject of alchemy or his overgrown sense of justice, Ed was shy. Which was just so cute. Oh, dammit, there he went again.

It wasn't helping that Ed wore a ponytail today. Roy couldn't stop himself from imagining that hair running through his fingers sometimes. In a braid it was just restrained enough to ignore the imagery, but in a ponytail, swinging free on his back, Roy could almost feel the glorious, silky mass of gold. It was so shiny. _At least he's not wearing it down today_ Roy thought. If he were Ed's lover, he'd never let him wear his hair down except when they were alone. It was too beautiful to share.

Noticing Havoc's smirk, he removed his attention from Ed with an almost palpable snap, finishing his coffee and making sure all of the subordinates who would be accompanying him this morning were present and ready to go. The Elric brothers he had already noted, as well as Havoc (who was still smirking, he noted without amusement), and there was Hawkeye. They would all travel in one car together, as was the norm with the Elrics and Hawkeye acting as his aides and Havoc the driver. Breda and Fury as well as two privates he did not know would be following in a second car. Armstrong and the rest of the group would be staying behind. The second car wasn't necessary, really, more of an honor guard. It was Ed and Al who would do most of the work from their group. Better safe than sorry, though.

When the three cars—two containing Mustang and his people, and Hakkai's Jeep—arrived at the gate, everyone piled out to inspect the gate. Ed took the opportunity to examine their new traveling companions, the Sanzo group. As noted earlier, Sanzo was the stunning yet sour blond in strange robes. Hopping around Sanzo in a hyper manner was a kid…not really a kid, though. Al said his name was Goku. He looked about eighteen, he just acted like he was five. He had long hair in the back and some weird crown thing on his head. Hmm, he had gold eyes. Interesting—the only other person Ed had ever met with eyes like his was Hoenhiem Elric (that man _was not_ his father). Watching on with a friendly smile was a handsome, dark-haired man with bright green eyes and a monocle. His name seemed to be Hakkai. And there was that annoying redhead from the night before. Hakkai called him Gojyo. Ed found his attention drawn back to the gate when Sanzo spoke.

"Hmm…These are symbols I recognize from the Seitan Sutra. But I don't know what these are."

"They're alchemical symbols," Ed said, taking the initiative. Mustang had said not to use alchemy, he hadn't said not to talk about it. Besides, best to learn now if these people had a problem with it.

Sanzo turned slowly to look at Ed, irritation and curiosity warring on his face. Ed walked up beside Sanzo to look at the gate more closely. A stone half circle rising from the ground, the gate was covered with symbols and the electrical reaction that usually indicated alchemy. It seemed identical to what it looked like on their side of the gate. About half of the symbols were alchemical in nature, depicting elements and complex processes. But the other half of the symbols were strange, foreign. Like nothing he'd ever seen before, even in the far land of Xing. For Ed and Al, trying to understand the construction of the gate was like trying to read a letter where every other word was in a foreign language. Perhaps with time they would have been able to decipher it, but with youkai coming through and eating people, they didn't have that kind of time.

"And, what, pray tell, are alchemical symbols?" asked Sanzo, curiosity winning out for the moment.

"Symbols for alchemy. It's the most important science in our world. It involves transmutations—changing substances from one thing to another. Can I see that thing wrapped around your neck?"

Sanzo started at the change of subject. What the hell! Of course the brat couldn't hold the sutra. Sanzo decided to let his renowned icy glare give his answer. The kid stared back, unimpressed. Sanzo suppressed the desire to pull a gun on him.

"No," Sanzo answered simply. The kid looked like he wanted to argue, but a sharp look from the black-haired man (_Mustang_) stopped him.

"So it looks like alchemy and this Seitan Sutra were used together to open the gates. Ed and Al here are experts on alchemy," said Mustang, gesturing at the two boys. "Do you think you could use this sutra and work with them to close the gates?"

"No. I don't have the Seitan Sutra. The people in the west do. Looks like you'll have to go with us anyway," said Sanzo, seeming less than enthusiastic.

* * *

Ranger: I'm glad you like. I hope you continue to read. I love Saiyuki and FMA, too. As for how they met, there was only one inn big enough for the Armestris group and that was the one Sanzo was staying at (the best inn in town). They metbecause Mustang was looking for an authority figure he could talk to about the gates and Sanzo was looking into them. It was a coincidence, really.

Climax: Great to hear fromyou again! I'm so glad you're still reading. You can download a good bit ofSaiyuki Reload from a websight called MangaCity, if you are interested. You could also buythe manga for the original at Books-a-Million orprobably any largebookstore chain. I have all the ones thathave been released around here, and they are worth every penny. Asfor Gojyo, well,I really haven't decided yetwhether or not to stick him with Sanzo. In the manga he clashes with Sanzo a lot, which always makes for interesting relationships. Gojyo's a real lady's man, he's all about having one nightstands and lots of fun. So he's noticedEd becauseEd's socool!But he'd also notice anyone really attractive orinteresting, I think. Anyways, thanks for continueing to read. I really likeseeing your comments! (Oh, andI think you're right about there just being so many fanfics in this category that mine isn't read as much! I'vealso released aLegal Drug story and its gotten many more reviews!)

Schizo the Mentally Disturbed: Yay, another fan! I love both series as well. And I think they mesh well-they have a similar tone, all nitty-gritty with plenty of sarcastic humor and angst. I may take you up on your offer later! I've read Saiyuki 1-6 (all that's been released around here) and Saiyuki Gaiden (which I absolutely love), but I may put Homura in later, and ifI do, I'm gonna need someone to tell me about him because allI know is whatI've read in other fanfics! Thanks for reading, I hope you like the new chapter!

I think that's everyone who reviewed! If you reviewed and I didn't reply to your review, tell me and I'll fix it! Hope everyone likes.


	5. Memories Masquerading as Figments of You...

Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own 'em. Dammit.

Warning: More darkness & Ed torture. Skip the italicized parts if you're squeamish.

* * *

Ch. 4 Memories Masquerading as Figments of Your Imagination

_There once was a hero who flew too close to the sun. _

_His wings of wax fell apart and he plummeted to the Earth…_

_Fullmetal Alchemist, book 1 part 2_

_It had taken him longer than it should have to realize that the black marks on the marble floor were part of an array. He was first tied, then later chained, to an array. Like the materials ready to be put into an alchemical product—or a sacrifice. And every torture, every rape, every tear that seeped into the floor was a part of that sacrifice. When Lust speared him trough with her talons, the blood soaked into the floor. When Envy…did that…to him, the…fluids…were absorbed by the floor, when Wrath beat him until he bled and vomited, both went into the floor. Each torment was but an initial part of his ultimate sacrifice, which the homunculi hoped would create the philosopher's stone. Unwilling to try to trade an imperfect sacrifice for the stone they wanted so badly, the homunculi had repaired Ed's arm and leg. He now had a nice tattoo on the small of his back to show for it, a complex array that was comparable only to the lovely, fluid arrays he'd seen in Xing, the arrays that made the alchemy of the west seem blocky and child-like. _

_He would learn later that the homunculi kept him for three months, but for him time seemed to stand still in one long moment of torment. He was rarely allowed to leave the floor. The walked him, to allow him to relieve himself and keep his muscles from atrophying, but once done, he was chained back to the floor. Of course, it wasn't long until his clothes were shredded and gone. He got a scratchy blanket at night to keep him from getting ill. Envy thought it was fun to hide that blanket. _

_He only saw his father three times in those months. Once the day after he first woke up, still groaning in pain from Envy's abuse of his body. Hoenhiem had remarked upon how well his limbs look and left, no pity for his abused son. The second time, Hoenhiem checked to make sure he was not ill after an especially cold couple of days. The third time had been when the homunculi had tried to sacrifice him. _

_He'd learned to wish he saw Dante as rarely. She delighted in tormenting him almost as much as her son. If Lust's careful thrusts of her lance-like fingers were businesslike and Wrath's beatings mindlessly angry, then Envy and Dante's torments were intimate and knowing. In some ways, Dante was worse than Envy. She never physically hurt him. Instead she petted and caressed him like a pet, remarking on how much she liked the his looks. She was especially captivated by the tattoo on his back. She said the black ink on his white skin moved her. He was chained in such a way that he couldn't clap his hands and couldn't defend himself._

_When he'd figured out that the floor was an array, Ed had wanted to stop giving it power, stop giving it blood and sweat and tears. But he couldn't stop bleeding, he couldn't stop sweating, and, when Envy came, he couldn't keep from crying. _

Ed woke with a start. For a wild moment he thought he was on that floor, but the hard surface under him was dirt, not marble, and it was the night sky above him. He remembered that they had left two days ago with the Sanzo group, headed west. Nice, vague direction there. Two days of sleeping in the dirt or the car. Both kind of sucked. The car was comfortable enough for riding, but not meant for sleeping. Besides, Roy slept there. It made Ed uneasy to sleep in a closed space with the man. NOT because he liked listening to him breathe, or because he felt his nearness! There really was nothing special about Roy Mustang! He just didn't like it!

Sighing softly Ed looked at his brother sleeping next to him. Al was always overprotective, perhaps a byproduct of years spent as a nearly indestructible suit of armor. Ed let him be, most of the time. After all, if Al stuck close to Ed in order to protect, then Ed in turn could protect his younger brother if need be. Still, Ed didn't think either of them were in danger in the middle of a camp full of the Sanzo group and their own soldiers.

Quietly Ed got to his feet and snuck over to the woods. He walked in just far enough that the camp was out of sight. He didn't want to be stupid, and youkai could be nearby, but he needed some time alone to shake the lingering effects of his nightmare memory. Ed stood quietly listening to the sounds of the forest around him. Crickets chirruping, an owl, the tiny rustling of small creatures. Ed had always secretly enjoyed nature. It wasn't something he spent a great deal of time thinking about when he and Al were on the quest for the philosopher's stone, but since their restoration, it was one of the private joys he allowed himself. A good sunset or a walk through the park could help to calm and center him after a hard day. Ed's reverie was broken by a soft voice.

"You shouldn't travel to far from the group on your own," Hakkai said softly, looking gently at the shaken boy.

Ed gasped and jumped, surprised as he could be. He had good hearing and good instincts, but the older man had managed to sneak up on him completely. Then again, when he focused on something he did tend to close the rest of the world out. When he was reading he could miss an earthquake.

"Sorry to give you a scare. I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"That's all right. You just surprised me."

"Sorry. Bad dreams?" Hakkai asked. He'd heard the boy whimpering in his sleep and had been worried. Hakkai was kept awake by bad dreams of his own and the memory of a sister-lover bathed in blood.

"Yeah" Ed replied quietly, looking away from the taller man's sympathetic gaze. The nightmare was too real, even the years didn't dull the edge of his memories.

"Me too," said Hakkai, surprising both the boy and himself. He didn't usually share his pain with strangers. Even the others of the Sanzo group, who knew his story, were often kept in the dark when it came to his feelings.

"Really," Ed replied, surprised, but not wanting to press for any details. After all, he had no intention of giving any details of his own nightmares.

"Yes," said Hakkai, "I think it's hardest when nightmares are memories masquerading as figments of your imagination, haunting your sleep."

Ed gave and affirmative "Hn" and the two stood together in silence, sharing the pain of the past while preserving the privacy they needed.

The next day started off pretty much identically to the previous two. The camp woke up grumpily. Even hardened soldiers didn't always like sleeping on the ground. Well, most of the camp was grumpy, anyway. Goku energetically searched for food and Armstrong sparkled happily, apparently a morning person. The effect was somewhat daunting for those still half-asleep. Havoc stumbled sleepily over to Mustang's car with a cup of coffee as the camp began to stir. Few people ever saw Mustang before his morning coffee and those who'd pushed the issue had regretted it. Ed roused himself as Al approached with their morning coffee. Ed had never liked the bitter taste of coffee and refused to dilute it with milk, but he would need the effects of the caffeine.

A half-hour later the company was packed and ready to go. It had surprised the members of the Sanzo group that such a large company could get ready so quick, but they were military men and women for the most part. The only members of the group who weren't soldiers were Ed and Al. And they, if anything, were even more used to travel and packing quickly than the soldiers. It was much harder on the officers who'd grown accustomed to staying in one place, having a base of operations. Travel started again.

The forest was primordial, with thick, twisting trees that sported a canopy that choked out the undergrowth. The road cut a dusty swath through the trees, looking like a gray-brown river cutting through the dark green from above. The dust from the road got into everything. The army's shiny black cars had quickly dulled to a dark greenish gray and their spiffy blue uniforms were fading quickly. The company found dust in their clothes, in the cars, in their hair. The last was particularly bothersome to Ed with his long, thick hair. He preferred to keep it clean—was almost obsessive about it, in fact. But, aside from the lucky rare hot spring, the company would be reduced to light sponge baths for some time, and Ed's bright gold hair began to dim. With dust on their cheeks he and Al looked younger than ever, like two children who'd been playing outside. In the heat everyone stripped down to undershirts leaving uniform coats in their bags. Even Sanzo had pulled his priestly robes down around his waist to show his tight black undershirt and arm-warmers.

The two companies mixed surprisingly well after the first few awkward days. Gojyo and Goku found easy camaraderie among the soldiers, gambling and eating. Hakkai got along with everyone, but seemed especially close to Ed (much to the surprise of Mustang). Sanzo found a kindred spirit in Mustang, who also held his men in check with the ever-present threat of death (though Mustang had yet to share the little fact that he could burn a man to death with a snap of his fingers). They were also both highly intelligent, though Mustang was much more manipulative than Sanzo. Sanzo also learned a grudging respect for the Elric brothers. Though they could be loud and excitable (particularly Ed), they were undeniably brilliant. Ed and Sanzo were too similar in temperament to become close, but the grudging respect went both ways. And, of course, everyone with good survival instincts respected Colonel Hawkeye. Unbeknownst to most, Ed and Hakkai continued their nightly vigils. Sometimes they spent the time talking, but at other times they shared a companionable silence.

The days passed quickly and slowly, in the manner of days that run together in their similarity so that it is difficult to say when one day ends and the next begins. Time seemed to be an endless road crawling through a never-ending landscape of trees and dust. Perhaps it was the similarity of the days that lulled the company into a false sense of security. Whatever it was, they were not prepared for the attack that happened on the tenth day of their journey.

The cars were traveling in a line like a group of ants trailing back to their hill with the day's forage. The arrangement, as per usual, left the Elric brothers and Hawkeye in the car with Mustang. The two young brothers poured over their notes and spoke in excited tonesas they puzzled out the secrets of the gates based on what they'd been able to learn from Sanzo. They were still a long way away from deciphering the gates, but had been supplied with enough new information to form theories to keep them fascinated for some time. Mustang and Hawkeye looked on with amusement, and even Havoc glanced fondly in the review mirror at the two excited boys. They'd grown so much in some ways, but when excited over new theory they were the same children they'd been when they'd first come to central. To them alchemy had lost none of its glory or fascination, none of its magic for all that it was a science.

Mustang found his attention drawn more and more to Ed as the days passed and he was forced in close confinement with him. He let the brothers argue theory without interference because they worked best that way, bouncing ideas off each other. But he also let them chatter away because it allowed him to watch Ed as few saw him, excited with his eyes shining and a happy glow. He even got to see that rare, breathe-taking smile when the two came to epiphanies about the nature of the gates. Hawkeye enjoyed watching the brothers for a different reason all together. If Mustang was feeling an inappropriate attraction for Ed, Riza Hawkeye had always felt a maternal affection towards the two young brothers. They day they'd first walked into Mustang's office looking so young, even Al in his huge suit of armor, her heart had bled for them. They still had the ability to make her want to cry or warm her heart.

The day of the attack, the Elric brothers were particularly caught up in their argument. Mustang was musing on the way Ed's golden eyes sparkled like the pure alchemical substance they resembled and the way he unconsciously wet his pink lips, licking them with his small quick tongue, when the car came to a sudden halt, throwing the occupants around like loose flotsam.

"What the hell…" Mustang began. The reason for their sudden stop soon became apparent as loud screams and gunshots rang through the air.

Rushing out of the car Ed was assailed by the chaos of the battlefield. It seemed they'd been ambushed by a particularly large group of youkai. Soldiers tried to stand in formation, but the attackers were inhumanly quick and darted among them leaving wounds and death in their wake. Behind them Armstrong held his own and in front of them the Sanzo group moved with the same speed, deadly accuracy, and skill as their attackers. With a glance of agreement Mustang and the Elric brothers turned to defend themselves and their company using alchemy. Mustang pulled on his gloves and snapped his fingers, unleashing a ribbon of fire that cut through the ranks of the youkai like hot knife through butter. Edward pressed his hands together and touched the thick metal bracelet he always wore transmuting it into a sharp, short blade much like the one he'd habitually turned his automail arm into. It was not as long or as strong since he had less metal to work with, but what it lacked it made up in sharpness. Along side Ed, Al clapped his hands together and pressed them to the ground, sending shockwaves at their enemies that erupted upward into spikes which wounded several youkai. Seeing their alchemical reactions from the corner of his eye, Armstrong transmuted his huge fist intoa metallic version that changed it from a weapon with the force of a bag full of bricks to one with the force of a sledgehammer. Mimicking Al he planted his fist into the ground with enough force to sent shockwaves under the feet of the youkai who were tossed like from their feet with thestrenth of the blow. Ed clapped his hands and pressed them to the ground, forcing water up from deep underground. The water burst from the ground under the feet of several youkai, throwing them high into the air. Following the commands of Ed, who still held his hands to the ground, the water changed its direction to hit more of the attackers, throwing them back into the forest with bone-breaking force. The remaining youkai were more than alarmed. They had not been prepared for the strange magics of the foreigners they'd been ordered to attack. Though there were more than 100 of them, they acted with the true instincts of cowards, or maybe just those whose hearts were not in the battle, and began to break and run. Only a few were brave or deranged enough continue attacking, and they were easily taken care of. As the last few met a messy end in their determination to attack, one determined youkai slipped past the defenders, landing in front of a startled Ed. With a quick downward thrust he slashed at Ed. His blow would have eviscerated someone with slower reflexes, but Ed managed to throw himself back just in time to escape with no more than a four nasty parallel cuts.

Mustang's eyes widened and his pulsed raced as he saw Ed fall back bleeding. Before even Al could react Mustang snapped his fingers. In a matter of seconds all that was left of the youkai was a pile of steaming ashes. This brutal and final act scattered the remaining youkai like cockroaches startled by the light. Mustang maintained his carefully designed and crafted mask but inside his heart was still racing and he was shaking. Ed had almost been killed right in front of his eyes. As competent as the young man was at fighting every battle was a risk. He'd known this ever since his own days in the Ishval war. He'd known that when he sent young men and women into potential battle they could always die. He'd been sending Ed into conflict since he was twelve. As hard as it had always been to put Ed or any other subordinate at risk, as much as it always left him with a sick feeling in his gut, he'd never experienced the kind of…of _panic_ (there was no other word to describe it) before. The feeling that forced his heart to beat harder even as it felt as if it had stopped…he'd never had this reaction before. He cared about all of his people but, as much as he'd hate to admit it, Ed was special to him in a way that very few others were.

Al's reaction may not have been quite as quick as Mustang's, but it was close. He caught Ed before his brother could hit the ground and gently sat him in the car, short legs dangling out the still-open door, not quite able to reach the ground. Ignoring his older brother's protests, Al eased Ed's shirt off to see the damage the youkai had managed to inflict. Thankfully it wasn't that bad. The scratches were deep but not deep enough to have hit any organs. Grabbing the first aid kit that Hawkeye had quickly found, Al began to treat his brother's wounds. Ed put up only minimal fuss because he knew that allowing Al to treat his wound was the quickest way to ease his brother's worry. He couldn't help but grouse a bit, though, because he knew that his brother would insist on treating him like an invalid for the rest of the day if he was lucky. If he was unlucky it would be the rest of the week. It didn't make him happy to know that Al's insistence that he rest would probably help him heal quicker. It was so annoying when Al was right about something like that.

A noise drew the group's attention away from the wounded Ed and Mustang and his subordinates turned to see an unamused Sanzo group glaring at them.

* * *

Time Waster: Glad you like. I intend to carry it on to the end. I hope you keep reading!

Ranger: Yeah, the Sanzo group are a bunch of crack-ups. Still, in all the books I've read, the only authority figures I've seen were religious, and Sanzo's right up at the top. I haven't seen any mayors, kings, armies, or anything like that. So Sanzo it is.

Mikage: Thanks for reading! I'll keep writing.

Climax: Haha! Don't worry about the multiple review thing. I figured it was a computer glitch. They happen to the best of us. Yeah, Sanzo's not your average priest. He actually became a priest because he was found as a baby by the previous Sanzo, who was like a father to him. And despite his...unusual...disposition, he has really strong spiritual powers. Yes,I know, I am twisted (I'm sorry Ed, I only torture you because I love you so much!). But, hey, you liked it, right? And Ed torture seems to be kind of a popularpastime among fanfic writers(I torture _all_ my main characters, though...hmmm). Anyways, I'll keep writing, so you keep reading!(Its missy, btw) -

Terra89: Love my story! I'm so happy! No, I haven't seen that episode in the anime yet but I read it in the manga. Hahahahahaha! Love that one! I really love that Ed is so shortits why I kept him that way. There aren't enough short heros, dammit! Shortpeople can be cool, too! But its still funny to watch him try to deny it. Maybe he wouldn'tbe so sensitive about it if everyone didn't mention it, though...I guess I can understand that. Still, it is so funny when he calls himself short!

Schizo the Mentally Disturbed: Green Bay! Why do they get the books early! That's not fair! Hmm, but maybe 7 is in the local stores by now. I'll have to check this weekend. Glad you're still reading. I'll let you know if I decide to include Homura. I feel bad for Ed, too, but...I have to do it. It actually does pertain to plot! Poor, poor Ed.

Grasshopper: I know I wouldn't mind that kind of harem. Sigh. I like pretty Ed too...I have this whole hair thing. I've been reading alot of Gundam Wing fanfics lately, and Duo's hair is marvelous. I reallylike Ed's hair in the series, but I'd love to see it longerso thick and shiney. I wish I had Ed's hair (and, you know, Ed)! Glad you like the AlxWinry. A lot of fanfic writers put her with Ed, but I don't see that working out. It just doesn't click for me (besides, she'd probably eventually give Ed brain damage or something). Al and Winry click. They just work somehow. You know what I mean? I can't see consensual EnvyxEd (I guess I can't forgive Envy for killing Hughes!). I mean, they've got this whole 'I want to kill you' thing going on. Plus Ed's got this overgrown sense of justice and Envy...doesn't. But nonconsensual works. I could totally see physical attraction, which Ed would fight, but Envy wouldn't.So I don't dig Envy as alove interest, but I love him as a villain. And I do so love a good villain.Twisted, smart, funny villains rock! But RoyxEd is thebest FMA combo there is! I say this without hesitation! They are so many levels of hotness! They click just like Al and Winry. They just seem right together. And I agree that FMAxSaiyuki is sparkly! They click too!

Bob the Almighty: Yay, I'm glad you like. You're right, there aren't many FMA crossoversor even series ficsyet. Mostly drabble. Me, I like an adventure story with a quest and a villain! A long one. And I love crossovers! Many of the fanfic ideas I have are crossovers (Yami no Matsuei x FAKE, Legal Drug x Wiess Kruess). So you may like themif I ever get around to writing them! Thanks for telling me about the words sticking together. I didn't even know that was happening. It might be something from when I transfer from microsoft word to I'll check it out and try to keep it from happening in the future.

Kurome Shiretsu: Wow, what a wonderful review! I read this at work (bad me) and it totally made my day. Thank you! I agree, it is hard to find a good crossover. I mean, they're out there, but there are also a lot of bad crossovers. And I love crossovers. A lot of my fanfic ideas are crossovers, so if I ever get to writing them you might like them (Yami no Matsui x Fake, Legal Drug x Weiss Kruess, etc.). I'm glad you like my style. I try to use a foregrounded narrator, but I also try to stay true to the tone of FMA and Saiyuki ( I can get too wordy sometimes). I _do_ like to examine what's going on in my character's heads (can you tell I'm a psych and soc double major!). I'm glad you like reading it! Another reviewer told me about the words stickingtogether. I think it is a computer glitch...something in I hope its when I transfer the project from word to document manager and not when they transfer it to the reading pages, because I can fix one but not theother...Well, I'll try. Thanks for letting me know. You know, usually when a story makes a non-main character too loveable, I figure out pretty quickly that they are going to be killed. But I didn't see it coming with Hughes! I really like him! I'm glad you agree with me. I've noticed several other fanfic authors doing the same thing (chuckle). Long live Maes Hughes! Hmm, Ed with super long hair...(starry eyes, little hearts). I like him with his hair like it is in the series, but to see it really long...nirvana. (I've been reading alot of Gundam Wing fanfics lately and I love Duo's hair!). I've got this whole hair thing on my mind lately . Grow out your hair, Ed! As for your questionsI have a vague outline, but not too specific. When I write I tend to get in a zone and what comes out may be nothing like how I started out, so I try not to think too far ahead of the next chapter. I like to keep it flexible. That's what I'm trying with this fic, anyway. I've got others that are well planned out. I'll see what works best. I will tryNOT to let this fic become one of those that starts off good, but loses steam and goes off on a tangent. Its so dissappointing when that happens. I try to update once a week, but I have a really hectic schedule this semester, so I may fall behind. I'll try not to! (I'm late this time because last week was spring break). Kougaji et al will be in the next chapter, but they are not major players in this fic. Some of my readers don't know Saiyuki, and I don't want to add in too many big characters, so they'll simply be there a little. I can't go in depth with them without going really in depth because they are so complex. Hey, the battle question is already answered! Yes, it did tire him out, you'll see more about that in the next chapter. Don't worry, he still kicks butt! Mustang et al will have to eventually learn about the Sanzo group, but not real soon. They see them fight, but too much goes on for them to worry about it. I'm glad you like the story so far! I don't intend to give up on it. Please, feel free to talk me to within an inch of my life anytime! P.S. Masterpiece, wow. Such high praise. I feel honored. Thankyou!


	6. Play Pretend

Disclaimer: Still own nothing. Don't sue me or I'll counter-sue. 

Warning: More Ed torture…there's gonna be a steady amount in this story. If you're squeamish skip the italicized parts.

I think that's all. Hmm, oh and bad language. I haven't warned about that at all yet, but that's gonna be pretty steady to, especially when I slip into people's pov more. Hope everyone likes!

* * *

Ch. 5

Play Pretend

_The sage's stone, the celestial stone, the great elixir, the red tincture, the next element—did you really thing such a thing was restricted to a mere stone?_

_Brigadier General Gran, Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 14_

Lady Gyokumen stared down at her guests in irritation. They'd come to her with promises long ago, then disappeared. Now they were back with a new plan and fewer allies. They'd abandoned her for years to work on their own and now they needed her help. She was tempted to refuse them, but knew that it was entirely possible that her plan to use both magic and science to resurrect her husband may fail—using their philosopher's stone would be less chancy. Only now they had another catch—they didn't have and couldn't create a stone. They needed someone from their own world.

The one called Hoenhiem was explaining that the man they needed, the _boy_, had been spotted in Shangri La by their scouts—with the Sanzo group, of all people. He was heading this way and would soon be in their grip.

"I suppose you expect me to send more youkai out to die to capture this boy?" the Lady said coldly.

"Ah, yes, send more youkai. But don't worry—they won't go alone. Envy will go with them. The youkai just need to provide him with cover. Envy can handle all the rest."

Lady Gyokumen looked at the…creature. Envy did not look very impressive, but she understood that he had abilities that could not be detected easily. Still, her husband's fate resting on this creature?

"Kougaji will go with you and organize the youkai." Her tone brooked no argument.

* * *

It had taken time to calm down Sanzo in order to explain that yes, several members of their party were actual alchemists. Mustang himself was suspicious of the Sanzo group—their fighting abilities were beyond human. 

By the time Sanzo was ready to listen to explanations, Ed was patched up and helping Hakkai treat the wounded. The gentle green-eyed healer watched in amazement as Ed clapped his hands and created blinding lights that healed the wounded soldiers' gaping cuts and broken bones in an instant. No less amazed was Ed when he watched Hakkai use his Chi magic. As close as the two had grown in their sleepless nights, they'd never discussed their powers.

The soldiers, most of whom had never seen Ed in action, were in awe of the two healers. Several who'd spoken disparagingly of Ed before (_We all know that he's just one of the General's bedwarmers) _found themselves eating their words when he healed their wounds.

Before long all of the soldiers had been treated and the two healers were in their own little world as they discussed the philosophy and mechanics of alchemy and Chi magic. The two were so engaged in their conversation that they didn't notice how pale Ed had become—fortunately someone else was paying attention and did.

"Edward Elric, you are wounded! You should be resting! I will take you back to the car!"

"ARMSTRONG, WHAT ARE YOU DOING! I'M NOT A KID—I'M NINETEEN! I CAN WALK ON MY OWN, I'M NOT TI—PUT ME DOWN!"

For a moment it looked like time had gone backwards to Al as he fondly watched his brother being carried, kicking and squirming, by General Armstrong who was as overprotective as always. Armstrong had had a special place in his heart for the Elric brothers the instant he'd seen them. While Ed seemed to see his babying as an irritation, it had been a blessing to Al. As an invincible, six-foot suit of armor he didn't get much babying. And Al knew that Ed didn't really mind it as much as he said either. He just didn't want to appear weak.

Hakkai watched Ed being carried off kicking and screaming with an amused smile. He and Ed could finish their conversation later. In fact, he was a little guilty that he hadn't noticed Ed's paleness. No matter what he said, the young man really did need to rest.

While Hakkai may have viewed the scene with amusement and Al with fondness, Ed could only be irritated. Okay, so Armstrong was right that he needed a rest. But couldn't the man do anything normally! He could have just suggested it! He really didn't need to carry Ed across the camp like a bride or a baby or something…in front of ev-er-y-freakin-body! Oh, God, look at Mustang smirk. Ed crossed his hands sullenly over his chest and settled down, red-faced. Armstrong always ignored his shouting and struggling anyway. The only time anything he'd ever said had fazed the man had been when he'd mentioned Ishbal—and he'd never do that again. He understood now that he had no right. No right at all.

Shoved in the back of the car and told to lie down, Ed soon found himself drowsy. He couldn't recover from his wound very fast, and on top of that he was exhausted from the alchemy he'd used. In the lazy afternoon heat of the car, with the conversation and commotion from outside muffled to a low murmur, he soon found himself drifting off.

_

* * *

__Envy liked to play pretend. He often appeared wearing different faces and forms. Sometimes these were the faces of strangers, but sometimes…. He'd been Mustang, Havoc, Hughes, Armstrong, Hoenhiem. Once he'd even appeared as nine-year-old Al with an obscenely large penis. It was sickening to say the least._

_The first time he'd appeared in a form not his own it was as Roy Mustang. As much as Ed liked to bitch about Mustang, when he'd seen his messy jet hair and sharp coal eyes, all Ed could feel was relief and gratitude. He'd called out to the man, smiling and crying. 'You came for me…you came…". Mustang had chucked and replied. 'Of course I came, Ed. I'll always come for you." _

_The mocking grin was what let Ed know something was wrong. Sure, Mustang was a smirking bastard—but not at times like this. When things got serious, so did Mustang. Mustang wouldn't act like this. But, no it had to be him. Mustang had come for him—he was safe with the Colonel._

_When Mustang had bent over, he'd been sure it was to unchain him. But instead, he'd run his gloved hands down Ed's arms and over his body. The fabric had been rough and Mustang had not been gentle. It stung. 'What are you…'. 'You, know, you're a very pretty boy, Ed. I must admit, I've wanted you since the first time I saw you. You were small and utterly feral. You were missing an arm and a leg, but you still weren't beaten. I wanted to possess you…to break you down.' Mustang leaned over and kissed him roughly, possessively, invasively._

_Ed choked and his tears began to flow freely as Mustang molested him. When the man was down to his undershirt and pants Ed had realized what was happening. It was his smile. Mustang smirked and grinned and gave little half-smiles, but not this crazy crescent moon grin. He'd only met a few people with such a scimitar smile (1) and Envy was one of them. This was Envy. 'You're not Mustang, you bastard. Envy, I know its you!'. That didn't seem to faze Envy, however. Despite that fact that Ed knew it wasn't Mustang, it still stung like betrayal. _

_After that, Envy found ways to make Ed feel that unique pain of disappointment, betrayal, and guilt over and over, with many different people. It didn't take Ed long to stop feeling hope when he saw a familiar friendly face._

"Edward…Edward wake up."

Ed opened his tearful eyes and saw the face of his tormenter. He lashed out, smacking the pseudo-Mustang in the mouth, backing up as far as the limited space would allow and gasping for breath.

"Brother!"

Al's cry broke through Ed's dream induced panic and he realized that he was in the car, safe…and that he'd just hit the real Mustang. The man was staring at him with knowing eyes. Hawkeye, in her usual seat to Mustang's left, and Al, sitting to the left of Ed, facing back towards Mustang and Hawkeye, both stared at Ed in shock. He lowered his face, hiding his eyes behind long golden bangs.

"I…I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"Brother, why did you…"

"It was an accident, Al. Just leave it alone." The last few words were whispered.

"It's perfectly alright, Alphonse. I've had much worse. I should have just let you wake him. It's my own fault." Ed hated how Mustang simply smoothed the problem over and yet, at the same time, he was pathetically grateful. He'd never explained the contents of his nightmares, his past, before, and he didn't intend to now. It was his burden to bear. He got enough pity as it was.

He was glad when Mustang asked them about their progress deciphering the gates. It distracted Al from what had happened and gave Ed a chance to recover his equilibrium. He suspected that was exactly why Mustang asked.

The afternoon passed uneventfully, but the easy camaraderie of the past days was shaken. The soldiers had lost men that day—only three, but it could have been many more. And they were Armetris's elite. The powers displayed by the alchemists and the Sanzo group were also disturbing. The soldiers had known that they were alchemists, of course, but to see them in action was very different from just knowing. The power displayed was amazing. But the small alchemist, Edward Elric—a familiar name, the hero of the people, the Fullmetal Alchemist—and the dark-haired member of the Sanzo group had shown skill in healing equal to their skill in killing.

Things were a bits strained with the Sanzo group as well. They were well aware of the new caution the regular soldiers viewed them with. Sanzo viewed their caution with disdain, Gojyo with annoyance. Neither were particularly bothered by it. Hakkai and Goku were different, however. Goku never had been able to understand why people feared him. He only fought the bad guys, after all. Hakkai understood all to well, and hid the familiar hurt behind his usual easy-going grin. Not that he fooled Sanzo or Gojyo, or even Ed for that matter. Ed and Hakkai may not have known each other that long, but they understood each other well enough for Ed to see past the smiles.

* * *

It was Hakkai's easy acceptance of Ed that led to Sanzo's willingness to tolerate him. Sanzo could respect Ed for his genius, which he'd been allowed to see in the past weeks as they worked on deciphering the gates, but he didn't trust easily. Still, Hakkai was an excellent judge of character. Then again, Hakkai'd trusted Yaone, so maybe Sanzo had better keep an eye on the boy. Still, when Ed showed up to their secluded bathing spot looking for a bit of privacy Sanzo did not protest when Hakkai invited him to join them. 

It was customary for Sanzo and Hakkai to bath away from the foreign soldiers. Sanzo did not appreciate the way some of them eyed him and was used to his privacy besides. Hakkai sought to hide the cruel scar on his belly. He also protected Sanzo. It was irritating that Gojyo, Hakkai, and Goku thought he hadn't realized that one of them stayed with him pretty much all the time. They weren't that subtle—particularly Goku.

Camp this night was set up on a cliff overlooking a raging river far below. Crashing magnificently into the water below was the waterfall stream that flowed perpendicular to the cliff, starting at a hot springs.

Most of the men had bathed in the stream, comfortably warm and nearer to the camp and its food. Sanzo and Hakkai had chosen to bathe at the more secluded spring. Ed cautiously joined them at Hakkai's invitation. Both natives sat far enough away from the shore that they didn't get a chance to see much as Ed slipped into the water and, like Ed, stayed low enough in the water that he couldn't see much of them. No one was trying to look, either. They were all safe in the unspoken agreement to ignore each other as they bathed.

Forget his shyness, Ed was finding it harder and harder to hide the array tattooed on his lower back. He didn't want to have to explain what it meant. He worried that Al wasn't circumspect enough. After all, he had an array, too. He'd wanted to bathe with his brother, but found that Al had already had his bath and was sleeping peacefully. Al hadn't had a chance to recover from the fight earlier, so Ed chose not to disturb him.

The three men bathed in a companionable silence, comforted by the knowledge that they weren't interested in each other's secrets nor their bodies. They stayed, perhaps, longer than they should of before they were brought back to reality by the shouts from the camp.

"Sanzo's gone crazy!"

"Sanzo, what are you doing!"

"AAIIIEEEE…"

The shouts and the gun reports from camp had the three looking at each other in a moment of utter confusion. Sanzo was sitting right there, not going crazy in the camp! A moment of confusion was all the men allowed themselves before they quickly climbed out of the water and dressed in the bare necessities. The marks that Hakkai and Ed had been so careful to hide earlier were now completely forgotten. They rushed back to camp wearing only pants and undershirts—or, in Sanzo's case, only pants.

They burst from the trees which had hidden their hot spring paradise into camp only to find… Sanzo, holding his smoking gun and laughing. Several soldiers lay on the ground groaning. A few had stopped moving all together. The camp was in disarray. Mustang, Al, and Armstrong stood to one side near the cliff, but were unable to use their alchemy because of all the wounded soldiers that lay between them and Sanzo. Hawkeye and Havoc were also unable to get clear shots because of Goku, who was dancing around trying to distract the crazed priest from shooting anyone else. He was lucky he moved so fast or he'd have been shot himself. Behind him Gojyo was fighting several youkai at once, holding them off from the main camp. Youkai bodies lay unmoving already.

Hakkai looked back and forth between the two Sanzos, at a loss for words. The appearance of the three had not gone unnoticed. The new Sanzo turned and stared at them, giving a huge psychotic grin. The real Sanzo raised his gun, shooting with deadly skill, but his doppelganger moved lightening fast out of the way. Sanzo grimaced as his bullet clipped Goku in the shoulder, just like his double had intended. He couldn't shoot into the camp.

The others began to notice the appearance of the three bathers as well. Most looked utterly confused, but Hakkai did not fail to notice the looks of grim recognition on the faces of the alchemists. He looked at the boy standing next to him wearing nothing more than his black jeans, thick metal bracelet, and a thin black tee shirt, clinging to his wet body. The boy's long, soaked hair was down, making him look shockingly seductive. But the look on his face was anything but seductive. Grim, it was full of dread, loathing, even hate. And fear. Ed hid the fear behind the other emotions, but it was clearly there. Hakkai saw his mouth move, what he said was too quiet to hear. Hakkai was able to read lips, but what Ed had said made no sense. _Envy?_

"Oh, well, I guess the jig is up!" the false Sanzo said with manic glee. He began to change, his golden hair lengthening and darkening to a dull black. His fair skin became pasty, and his face younger, rounder. The expression on it kept it from looking more innocent. The figure became shorter, about Goku's height, but more muscular in a wiry way. The long white robes shortened into a stomach bearing, tight shirt and a…skort? Black fingerless gloves and black foot-wrappings completed the picture. Before anyone had time to adjust to the appearance of the creature, youkai poured out of the woods as if a dam had broken, led by none other than Kougaji and his people.

Ed ignored the newcomers, focusing on the figure who so frequently haunted his nightmares. He clapped his hands quickly before touching the bracelet on his right wrist. The bright blue spark of an alchemical reaction lasted only a moment before Ed had a foot long blade sticking out over the back of his hand. Moments later he was dodging, ducking, punching, and kicking as he engaged Envy in battle.

Before he restored Al, Ed's fighting style had consisted of more offense than defense. He would dodge what blows he could, but if it came down to taking a blow and making a hit or evading the blow but missing the hit, he'd take the blow any time. When he had fought Greed he'd been thrown around the room like a rag doll, but had gotten up time and time again. Losing his health had been a serious blow to his fighting style. He'd had to relearn everything better, more skillfully. He couldn't rely on his grit, strength, and stubbornness. He'd become fast, precise, and elegant in his fighting style. It was something he'd learned in Xing when he'd realized his Sensei's street-brawler fighting method no longer suited him.

Ed ignored Envy's taunts as they fought across the campsite, flowing over obstacles and around other battles like dancers. It was a far cry from their previous battles and neither could make any headway. Envy's superhuman flexibility and nimbleness was an equal match for Ed's skill and speed. The fight was too fast for even Ed to use his alchemy, and all of the others were engaged in their own battles.

Time had no meaning in the chaos of battle and before he knew it Ed was standing on the edge of the cliff, far above the raging river below. Envy stared at him in satisfaction.

"No where left to run Kitty-cat. Did you miss me? I missed you."

"Fuck you," Ed whispered hoarsely.

It is impossible to say how the battle would have ended had the two of them fought on the cliff's edge. Perhaps Envy would have captured Ed. Perhaps Ed would have killed Envy. Perhaps they would both have died. But at that moment another stepped in. Roy Mustang had kept a careful eye on the two fighters during the battle, fighting his way towards the pair. Now he had his chance. Coming up behind Envy quickly, he snapped his fingers, sending out a scorching snake of fire that Envy nimbly avoided. Roy took the opportunity to move to Ed's side, so that the two of them faced the homicidal sin with their backs to the cliff.

CRRAAACCCKK.

The whole battlefield froze for a moment as the combatants sought the source of the ominous noise. Smaller crackling noises drew Ed's attention downward and he was horrified to see a long spidery crackline appear on the small outcropping of cliff on which he and Roy stood. The cliffs were made of crumbly, soft limestone and the stress of the battle—for Armstrong and Al had both created spikes and shockwaves through the Earth using alchemy—was too much for the delicate stone. There was only a moment between Ed's horrified realization that the ground he and Mustang stood on was about to fall, before the Earth under his feet slid and he and Roy tumbled gracelessly down to the water far below.

* * *

(1) Scimitar Smile is the name of an FMA and Nurato fansite—good fiction. Just go to www. scimitarsmile .com without the space. I think its actually referring to Ed's smile, but it works for Envy too. 

Grasshopper: I agree. Ed and Hakkai are both such fascinating characters. I love the driven-genius-who-committed-a-sin-against-god-and-nature thing Ed has going on and Hakkai…what's not to like about this incredibly sweet guy who, btw, had an affair with his sister and killed 1000 youkai and the people of his hometown? And yet he really is sweet, not a sociopath or anything. I was a little worried that they wouldn't match up at first (Since they are nothing alike), but, when you think about it, Hakkai's kind of like Al (an older, more angsty Al). Really nice and a natural peacemaker (when he's not kicking ass). I also thought making them friends would bring out a more mature side of Ed's character. I'm trying to keep him in character and yet make him more mature at the same time. After all, he would be more mature at 19 than at 15 (or so I would hope).

I know what you mean about Al and Winry—Ed would be in a coma or, horror of all horrors, suffer brain damage (I have this thing about really smart guys…so sexy, especially with the hair and the abs!). But I've rarely seen Winry violent with Al. Really Winry and Ed seem to have more of a brother/sister thing going on.

I know, I totally like Envy until he killed Hughes (I like smartasses, too. Like in the episode with Majinhal when he was expaining the whole thing where he put the souls of village girls in manniquins and Ed says "Well, its shocking that plan ever went awry" Hahahaha, the best part of that episode!). Well, I have to admit the whole skort thing bothers me a bit. I like that he has a weird, androgynous thing going on (an androgynous shapeshifter makes sense), and, as a tee shirt and jeans type of gal I really shouldn't comment on the fashions of others, but, really, a skort! Envy is so much cooler than a skort! Now, Envy in tight leather pants…

Anyways, glad you like my fic and that my pairings click for you! Hope you liked this chapter too!

Maaya: I know what you mean about chapters getting too long. I've stopped reading stories before because they were all in one huge chapter (usually late at night when I should be sleeping and don't have enough brain cells awake to do that much processing). So I tried to break the chapters up in this chapter. I'll keep an eye on that from now on. I'm really bad about long chapters, but getting better. I used to write chapters that were over a page long and, like, three sentences. So I am improving! Thanks for your comments, constructive criticism is always welcome!

Schizo the Mentally Disturbed: I know! I feel so guilty for torturing Ed…but I'm gonna keep doing it. It really does pertain to plot! I'm glad you like the Ed and Hakkai thing. I thought they'd work out because Hakkai is like an older, angstier version of Al in a way—both are really nice and natural peacemakers. Plus Ed has a hard time pushing away people who avoid making him angry. And Hakkai goes out of his way to avoid making people angry. So they can sit and be angsty together.

Sorry about the fight paragraph. It probably jumped around too much for one paragraph. That's one of the problems editing your own fiction—it may make sense to you but no one else, know what I mean? I tried to break the paragraphs up more in this chapter, and I'll keep an eye out for that sort of thing in the future. Thanks for letting me know!

See, now, I like Winry fine. She's smart and feisty. I just don't like her with Ed. That wrench is a menace! I'd have to kill her off if she brain-damaged Ed! His brain is too cool to mess up! (I like smart guys). Ed and Roy, on the other hand, have that nice, sexy tension which can help drive a story, but are less likely to actually kill each other. Threaten, yes. Minor damage, yes. Serious injury, no. I keep thinking about this scene in the episode with Psiren when Ed's thinking about having to report and really dreading it. He's bitching, but when he pictures Roy its with him looking all handsome in front of a window with the light shining all around him…its not the way you picture someone you really hate. There's something there.

Hughes lives on in the land of fanfiction!

Yes, long-haired Ed is all kinds of yummy! And, no, Roy wouldn't be able to keep eyes (or hands) off. After all, I'm pretty sure he has a thing for blondes (hello Hawkeye and Havoc). Which reminds me of a funny fic I read called 'The Fuhrer's Prerogative' on http:archive. index2.html (minus the spaces). Royxblondes. I recommend it.

Yes, I have gotten Volume 7! Pretty good, very angsty (like all of them). I couldn't really get mad at Gojyo—I mean, I've bitched about my friends or family or roommates plenty of times when I was feeling irritated. I was just lucky enough not to be bitching to a naïve kid who was worshiping a false psychotic god who had convinced him that his pet monster was really his brother. I felt so sorry for those poor kids! I hope the Sanzo ikou really kicks that jackass's butt—slowly! I know what you mean about a bad way to spend months, though…cliffhangers are evil (but I just ended this chapter with one…hehe, sorry).

Anyways, glad you're still enjoying! Thanks for reviewing again!

Climax: I hope you get to read the whole chapter! Yeah, Roy would have wanted to give the car to Ed, but Ed never would have taken it. Ed wouldn't want to admit he needed it…and taking the car after Roy left would be admitting that he was only sleeping outside to avoid Roy, which he was, but would never admit. Good idea about the Roy being jealous of Al thing…I'll try to add some more of that in there. I know I'm sick. And I apologize before your next review for the comment about 9-year-old Al, but it adds to the story! I couldn't help it! I'm glad that it's a compliment anyway! Thanks for continuing to read and review! I really like hearing what you think about it! Hope you like this chapter too!

Kurome Shiretsu: Glad you like this chapter! Most of my reviewers like the Ed and Hakkai thing…yay! I thought they complimented each other and that Hakkai was like an older, angstier version of Al—nice and a peacemaker. I think its therapeutic for Ed to have someone to angst with, ya know?

Envy won't get his ass kicked yet, but wait for it! I might have Ed do it, though…that would be therapeutic too. Plus I owe him for torturing him so much!

I'm glad you like the battle scene! I was trying for the whole panoramic thing, as opposed to this chapter where I focused mainly on Ed vs. Envy.

I haven't been putting enough Ed-Al interaction in this fic, which is an important part of their characters! I'll have to work on that…you may see more in Ch. 7 (Ch. 6 is a surprise!). I'll also put in more Saiyuki in Ch. 7. Its hard, there is so much going on in this fic! So many cool characters, but I'll do my best to bring them out more!

Yeah, I need more Ed-Sanzo interaction, too—since they are supposed to be working together! Ed riding with the Saiyuki group…interesting idea. I may see if I can work that in down the road.

Yeah, I love the whole mutual denial, sexual tension thing. It's a classic, but it still works! Hehe.

Oh, I know what you mean about the crossovers. I particularly hate it when like 15 different anime/manga series from COMPLETELY different universes are smashed together. I mean, I can maybe buy two different universes if there is a reason (after all, that's what is happening in this fic), and up to three or four different anime/manga series if they are in the same universe, but that's it! You can only stretch Deus ex Machina so far!

Crossovers are fun to write! Before I discovered fanfiction (poor, deprived little me), I used to imagine what it would be like if characters from whatever I was reading met characters from another book or movie or tv show. It was so neat when I found fanfiction and realized I wasn't the only one who did that!

No I haven't seen Fushigi Yuugi. I've heard a lot about it though. If I ever do get a chance to see it I know better than to get attached to Nuriko! They really shouldn't sneak the doomed, loveable non-main character in! Its so unfair! At least let us know so we don't get attached! Rest assured, I have no intention of doing that in this fic! (some of the villains may die, though, I haven't decided yet).

Long hair, long hair. I don't know if I'm turned on by guys with long hair or if I envy them. No, I'm pretty sure its both! I really like the whole long-bangs-falling-into-the-eyes thing too (see Tsuzuki from Yami no Matsuie!). Awe, man, I just love anime and manga hair. Its too cool! Like Daisuke's spiky hair in DN Angel. Its not long, but its so cool—and he's so cute.

When I started this fic I hadn't thought that far ahead, but I had before I posted it. I get so many fic ideas, but I try not to post them until they have a definite direction. Its so annoying when I find the wonderfu first chapter or two of a fic, then find out the author hasn't updated for years or decides to go on hiatus or something! I try not to do that.

Yes—the secret is to add in character building elements without tangents, or with only small tangents. I'll work on that, but this is an Ed-centric fic! We'll have to see how that works out.

I'm really glad you like this so much. As for being on your alert list, favorite authors, favorite stories, and being highly recommended—I am truly honored. I know that sounds kind of corny, but that's how I feel. Thank you.

Lazeralk: Glad you like! Its nice to get new reviewers! Hope you keep on reading, I'll update as frequently as I can!


	7. A Bitter Brine Tide

Before you read, I would like to say that I am so sorry for taking so long to write this chapter…especially when the last chapter ended on a cliff-hanger. I've been busy, busy, busy. I can't say how much better I'll be in the future, but I'll try. I do intend to keep working on this story.  
Warning: Yaoi Lemon, Lime, and Fluff! If you've been reading for the action, I suggest you skim this chapter. Its got character-building and relationship stuff, but no real action. Mentions of past rape. 

Disclaimer: I still don't own them.

Ch. 6 A Bitter Brine Tide 

Destroying lives doesn't bring lives back. We all just need to live and be content while we can.

Ed, episode 15

The first thing that Ed noticed was warmth. He was warm. Toasty, actually. The second thing he noticed was that he was laying on something hard—the ground? Slowly opening his eyes he saw a merrily crackling fire a few feet away from him. He was, indeed, lying on the ground in what appeared to be a small, cozy cave. Gradually Ed sat up, groaning slightly at the soreness of his body. He felt as if he'd been beaten. Looking down at himself, Ed came to the realization that he was wearing nothing more than an oversized white button up shirt.

Glancing wildly about, Ed saw his pants, the thick black denim soaked, torn, and muddy. The sight of his jeans drying a few feet away from the fire reminded him of the battle and the fall. He'd been fighting Envy. Envy was here. _God, I wanted him to be dead!_ Then he and Mustang had fallen into the river.

Looking more closely at the shirt he wore, he realized it was the kind that Mustang wore and had a spicy, masculine scent. _Smells like Mustang._ Ed had noticed that smell years ago. It was warm and sweet but strong and masculine. He wasn't sure if it was a favorite cologne or just the man's natural scent, but it was intoxicating. _This must be his shirt. He must have pulled us both out of the water._ Though Ed clearly remembered the fall from the cliff—that sinking feeling when there was nothing to support him and gravity pulled him down—but nothing after that. He must have lost consciousness when they hit the water.

A slight rustling noise at the entrance of the cave announced Roy's arrival. He'd been scouting around, trying to figure out where they were, but didn't want to be gone too long. Who knew what a recently awakened Ed might do if left to his own devices. And Ed should wake soon. As he walked into the cave he saw that Ed was, indeed, awake, and looking very tempting wearing nothing but Roy's white shirt, golden hair cascading freely down his back in a tangled mass. All the mental discipline in the world couldn't stop Roy's pants from feeling two sized too small. Something about that simple, too-large white shirt slipping off Ed's left shoulder, his slender, shapely legs covered only to mid-thigh, was extremely arousing. Almost more arousing than Ed totally bare, unconscious from the rough beating water, had been.

"So, you're awake then." Roy shook himself from his reverie, putting his attention firmly on the fire, for which he'd brought more wood. It got cold at nights, and Ed had been dangerously cold since Roy'd pulled him from the water.

"Yeah…where are we?" Ed looked around, ignoring how attractive Mustang was in his white tank top and navy pants. The man was sleekly built. In his uniform, it might be possible to believe that he was weak or did not keep his body in top form. In the tight fitting tank top no such illusion was possible. His arms were lithely muscled and his stomach defined. His broad shoulders narrowed to temptingly narrow hips and his clavicles, usually hidden by his uniform's tall collar, were sharply defined below his muscular, though slender, neck. _Stop it! Think about something else—the situation, think about the situation!_

"We're in a cave, somewhere downstream. The river's not far from here. I thought we'd rest here for a bit. The others should be along shortly, I hope."

"We should…go find them."

"With you wearing that?" Roy raised an eyebrow, smirking. "I think not. Your shirt was ruined in the water. The cotton was too thin, it was torn to bits. Your pants are a bit better off, but still wet. Our military uniforms are for more than just looks, Ed. The wool is thick enough to withstand a beating but light enough to dry quickly. Besides, you hit that water head-first. It's a miracle you're neck didn't break. You need to rest."

"I'm fine," snapped Ed, reddening. Oh, god, he was in front of Mustang wearing nothing more than a shirt. And Mustang in that tank-top…never before had he been so aware of the general. Arranging his shirt to cover as much of his body as possible, Ed began combing his fingers through his tangled hair impatiently. When he winced as he pulled too hard, Ed noticed that Mustang had set the firewood down and was standing right behind him. Then Mustang sat down right behind him.

"I'll do it," he said softly. Gently Mustang gathered up Ed's hair before he began pulling his fingers through it. It was so soft and silky, even as tangled as it was from the rough water of the river. Touching Ed's hair was something Roy had fantasized and now the fantasy was coming true. He realized how much Ed was enjoying it when he heard him groan softly. There was no embarrassed flush, no denial, so he probably didn't even realize he had. He seemed to be in a kind of trance, his body relaxing to lean back against Roy. Roy bit back his own groan at the warm weight. _Just doing his hair. Nothing sexual about that. Yeah. Sure._

It was amazing to Ed how _good_ having Mustang do his hair felt. Al did his hair all the time, and Winry occasionally, too (and she always wanted to curl it or put ribbons in it or something), but it never felt like this. The gentle tugging of the strands, the warmth of his fingers ghosting over Ed's scalp…the feel of his hot breath on the back of Ed's neck, his strong thighs nestling Ed between them, the strong chest a few inches behind Ed…. Ed's eyes slowly closed as he mindlessly leaned back into the caresses like a cat being petted. Before he knew it, Mustang had given up on any pretended neutrality and was rubbing his head as Ed leaned into the caress and arched his back into Mustang's trim, muscled chest.

Roy had denied his attraction to Ed for a long, long time, but in one small moment years of careful self-delusion were destroyed as he gently reached forward, grabbed Ed's chin, and pulled his face around to kiss him softly on full lips. The kiss was closed-mouth and soft, almost chaste, but one of the most sensual experiences Roy had ever had. Ed's lips, forbidden territory, were as soft as the velvet down of a rose petal and Ed's slight weight in his arms warm.

For Ed, the kiss was magic. He'd been kissed before, but Roy was different. His lips were thin, but sensual and strong. It was amazing how something so simple as rubbing two pieces of flesh together created such feelings.

All to soon, the kiss ended. Ed slowly opened his golden eyes. They were foggy, the pupils dilated, and their gold had darkened. He met Roy's heated gaze and his breath quickened. He'd seen similar looks on Roy's face before, but never so intense. When Roy was serious, his sharp coal eyes smoldered, but now…they were like a slow burning black fire, engulfing Ed's mind. Ed slowly became aware of his body again, the feel of muscular arms tight around him. Throwing caution to the wind and, for once, forgetting about pride or fear he turned in Roy's arms, snuggled up even closer, and leaned forward to kiss Roy again.

The second kiss was about as far from chaste as possible. Roy delved into Ed's mouth, strong tongue plunging past parted lips to explore the hot, moist territory. Tongues tangled and breathing quickened. By the time the kiss ended Roy had somehow unconsciously maneuvered Ed onto the ground beneath them with himself lying on top. Breaking off the impassioned kiss, Roy pulled back a bit and looked down at Ed. God, he was beautiful. His cheeks were flushed, his full lips rosy from kissing, his hair spread around like a golden halo, and his eyes, half-closed and unfocused with passion.

The mood was broken for Ed when Roy's face swam into view. That familiar face right above him…it was too dreadfully familiar. _Envy! _Suddenly Ed could feel cold marble beneath him and knew that the homunculus was laying on him, holding him down, trying to fool him again. Ed began to struggle.

Roy was so shocked at Ed's sudden struggles that he allowed the boy to push him off, scurrying to a back corner of the room and huddling into a tiny fearful ball. Roy stared at him in confused consternation. What had scared him so? Roy had done nothing overtly aggressive, and Ed didn't scare easy. He wouldn't have been surprised if Ed had yelled or hit him, but to run and hide? That wasn't like Ed at all.

"Ed? What is it?"

"…."

"Ed, what's wrong? Please, tell me…"

"How did we first meet?" came the hoarse whisper.

"What? What does that…"

"Just tell me if you know!"

"I'd gotten a letter that you and Al had sent out about your father. I responded in person, and arrived in Rizenbul not long after you tried to resurrect your mother. You were so small, Pinako and her granddaughter didn't think you were awake and aware, but I saw the spark in your eye…so I mentioned becoming a state alchemist and having access to research materials. Not long after, I got a call from you."

"How did we celebrate when I got my watch?"

"We didn't…I was busy on a serial killer case. Barry the chopper"

The tense shoulders slumped and the golden eyes lost their suspicious glare.

"I…I'm sorry. I had to be sure…that it is really you."

"Who else would it… Envy." Roy suddenly realized what Ed was afraid of. He was afraid that Envy managed to capture him and had tried to keep him off guard by acting like Roy.

"Yeah, Envy." Roy started at the hoarse, bitter tone and the accompanying laugh. He hadn't heard Ed sound so bitter since Al was restored.

"Envy. You know, all the months that I was there, in that cold place, waiting to be sacrificed…Envy was there everyday. At least I think it was every day. I kind of lost track of time after a while. He _hurt_ me and enjoyed it. He made me wish for death. He r-raped me. He did it all the time! He shifted shape, you know, into others that I knew. Tricked me into thinking someone had come to rescue me. I knew it was him, after the first time, but I kept falling for it. I wanted someone to come so much! B-but they never did. Just the homunculi. And _him_. He was you a lot. He liked you. Or maybe he just knew that _I_ liked you. Yeah, I had a crush on you. Pathetic, huh. And now, you kiss me and I can only see him. Why can I only see him!"

It was a kind of catharsis for Ed. He'd spoken with no one about the rapes and torture before. Not Al, not Roy, not Hughes, no one. He didn't want anyone to know. But it was killing him keeping it inside. He had to let it out, the grief, the rage. He had to! The words just flowed from him in a bitter brine tide, releasing long suppressed emotions. In the end Ed was left sitting there with tears slowly rolling down his cheeks. It was a moment of waiting for him. The next few minutes were more important than he could ever say. Roy's reaction was more important. If Roy couldn't look at him, couldn't accept him without disgust, then Ed would never be able to accept himself.

For his part, Roy was stunned. He'd never seen Ed so vulnerable. Even the first time they met, when Ed was still reeling from the failure to resurrect his mother, the loss of Al's body and his own arm and leg, there had still been a spark in Ed's eye. Ed's eyes were dull now, tarnished gold. Ed had been holding this inside for four years and Roy had never guessed. He would bet that even Al had no clue. Ed had been different after he was kidnapped by the homunculi, sure, but there was no indication at this depth of disturbance. The boy he'd admired so much was broken, hollow. While he spoke, Roy just sat there and listened. Then the moment came for Roy to act. He ignored his clever, well-honed mind which screamed a hundred different ways to respond and listened instead to his gut. He walked over to Ed and pulled the boy into his arms, burying his face into Ed's hair and making soothing sounds. It was as if a dam had broken down, and Ed began sobbing. He cried not like he had before, silent and tainted tears, but like a child. When adults cry, they try to hold back the sound, hold back the tears. They make muffled, gasping noises. When children cry, they hold nothing back. Every sob is a moan, a wail of pain. When children cry, the let themselves heal.

Outside the cave the world went on like it always does. The river thrashed in mindless power and passion, the birds preened and hunted and mated. Deer walked soundlessly even in the thickest of leaves and saw the world through large, liquid eyes, that saw no color but endless beauty nonetheless. Nature was beautiful and, as always, pitiless. Nature has been described before as cruel because she lacks pity, but she is not truly cruel. For her, the beauty is in the function, not the form. When function fails, beauty is lost and the failed part replaced. Rather than compassion, the beauty of nature lies in her adaptability. Nature knew no mercy or pity for Ed either. He would adapt and move on or he would fail and be forgotten. She could not compromise.

Time passed and the dusk had crept close when Ed woke in the cave for the second time that day. Rather than wake alone this time, he woke surrounded by warm arms and a masculine scent. He knew that scent. It was Roy. He pulled back just enough to look up and saw that his superior was dozing. Roy had held him until he cried himself to sleep Ed remembered, feeling how swollen his eyes were. It had been years since he cried. Sometimes he wondered if he had ever cried like that, if he'd ever had the capacity. Apparently he did.

Looking at Roy he smiled. The man was always there for him, when he could be. He was lovely in his sleep. Ed hated to use the word lovely because it sounded so girly, but handsome was too tame a word. Asleep, the weight of the world slipped off his shoulders and his face lost its smirking mask. Leaning up slowly, Ed brought his mouth to Roy's in a gentle kiss, enjoying the soft warm lips. After a moment, Roy began to return the kiss.

For Roy, it was a lovely way to be woken. A warm, slender weight in his arms and a velvet mouth on his. He slowly allowed his eyes to crack open, peeking through his lashes. To his surprise, he saw Ed. Then he remembered everything. He continued the kiss for a moment before pulling back and looking Ed in the eye. God, the boy was beautiful with his long golden hair, flushed cheeks, and passion-dazed eyes.

"Ed?"

"Kiss me, Roy. Don't stop."

"Are you sure?" Roy couldn't help but be worried.

"Yeah. I want to be with you. I want to forget _him._ I want to be clean again."

"Oh Ed," Roy said in a whisper, leaning forward to hug the boy, "You are clean. You've never been unclean."

The rest of the evening passed in a slow sensual melt. Mouths melted together, and Ed swore his spine melted as Roy kissed his way down his neck. Somewhere along the way they lost their clothes and before Ed knew it he was laying under Roy who was mouthing his nipple, suckling at it like it was succulent fruit. Ed gasped at the pleasure of it. He was hot and hard like he'd never been before. Roy's hands teased the insides of his thighs, but did not touch that aching part of Ed. Ed thought he'd die of the slow, delicious torment.

Roy was enamoured with the taste of Ed. He was like nothing Roy had tasted before and Roy quickly found himself becoming a connoisseur. He loved the little noises Ed made, mewling like a kitten and gasping for breath. Ed didn't even seem aware that he made them, and was writhing beneath him. Roy looked up and smiled to himself as he took in Ed's glazed, passionate look. Moving down he took into his mouth Ed's straining arousal as he prepared him.

Ed gasped at the sudden heat surrounding him, the moist tongue stroking him. He arched his back and tried to thrust up, but Roy's strong hands on his hips held him down. This was so much more than those few embarrassing moments he'd spent alone during painful adolescence, stroking himself. He felt himself nearing completion, but before he could go to heaven, Roy pulled back. Ed's breath caught. Roy was…magnificent. His eyes burned and his mouth was swollen and red.

"Ed…are you sure you want to go all the way? If I start, I won't be able to stop."

"Oh God, yes, please. Roy!"

Accepting Ed's enthusiastic response, Roy entered his warmth, almost painfully tight. Ed knew a moment or two of blinding pain, but then it was pushed away by pure, unadulterated pleasure. Roy was blinding flame and Ed a moth, happily immolating himself in ecstasy, and, for a few precious moments, the fire burned away all shame, anger, and fear, leaving Ed clean.

Gallactica7: I'm glad you like. I love FMA, Saiyuki, and Yaoi too (in case you haven't guessed!) I'll try to include more Saiyuki characters in the next few chapters, including Goku! Hope you keep reading.

Grasshopper: Yes, Envy lives! You'll see more of him in the future. I like twisted villains (especially cute, smart, smartass villains), and that's his role in this one!

I love Armstrong, he's so sweet!

They angsty characters rock. I love to read them, so I try to write them. It's a careful balance. They need to be angsty, but not whiny. Hope I'm pulling it off.

Glad you like the more mature Ed. I hope his character is coming across right!

I agree about Envy's clothes. Maybe I'll update them next time we meet him. Hmmm…Whatcha think?

Glad you're still reading, sorry for the long wait!

Climax: Yes, cliffhangers are wonderful things. Unless you have to wait forever for the next chapter. Sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen.

I see Roy as a kind of honorable fellow, a gentleman, despite his smirking. He's almost aristocratic. As for the RoyxRisa lovers…well, they probably won't be reading this fic anyway.

Sanzo's more pissed than unbelieving about the alchemy. After all, he and his travellers are pretty special, too. But he hates being kept in the dark! He's kinda a control freak.

The soldiers learned a valuable lesson about gossip. Hehe.

Glad you got the Ed-Hakkai connection. I think they'd make great friends.

I love Hughes, but you won't see him appearing in this fic until the end, if then. He would have wanted to go with Roy et al., but there's no way he would leave Gracia and Elysia behind, so he's safe back in Central.

The flashback in the last chapter is the most vulgar I have planned. Future flashbacks will still involve Ed torture, but it won't be so bad. Sorry about that. I thought about your other review when you mentioned the flashbacks were ichier than you'd like, but my muse told me to keep torturing Ed!

Good to hear from you again! Keep reading!

Terra89: I'm glad you love my story! That's always nice to hear.

I saw that episode not long after I wrote the last chapter, actually. It is hilarious. A fanfic about it would be neat. I've got it on tape now—I really should just by the DVDs, but I'm broke!

No, I haven't seen any Saiyuki anime, I have the manga. I want to by the DVDs, but, as before, I have no money! They actually have them at Best Buy, but I really can't afford them. (crying)

Gyokumen and Dante…both evil bitches. Love to hate them.

Sorry it took so long to update!

Anonymous: I'm glad you like! And I really like to hear that you think the characters are IC.

I'm glad Ed is coming across like I want him to. Some fic writers just writing him blowing up and screaming all the time. While Ed does have a bad temper, he's so much more than that and with a little more maturity its easy to see. The characters do connect well with their angst-fest. I'm glad the Hakkai-Ed thing works out as well as it does. To be honest, I wasn't planning on making them close at first. It just sort of happened and I liked it so I went with it. I do think they work well together. You'll see more of that and more Saiyuki in general in the future. I'm glad you like my characterizations so much!

Sorry for taking so long to update!

Azremodehar: Glad you like the basic concept. If that doesn't work, then the whole thing's out the window.

I respect your opinion, but I can't agree with the whole philosopher's stone thing. The whole point of FMA is that there are always consequences and you can't get anything for nothing. To even get the philosopher's stone you must make sacrifices…which is what Ed did. I'm going to explain more later about why the sacrifice was necissary, it'll be all philosophical.

I pondered for a while about what the sacrifice should be. I didn't want Ed to be incapacitated or truly crippled, but I felt that he needed to be vulnerable. And I don't feel this vulnerablity makes him weak. Weakness would be if he allowed his impaired health to stop him and make him less than he was before, but he hasn't. He still leads a full, challenging life. And he still kicks ass!

I know about the pretty boy thing…but I like bishies! And Ed does have muscles, but he's compact and slender and has a pretty face (love those eyes). A nice fusion of elegance and power (that makes him sound like a car, doesn't it).

I am very honored that, despite the fact that you disagree with some of the things I've done and my basic concept of Ed, you are still reading. That is about the most flattering thing I've heard in a while.

Inui's Bastard Love Child: Sorry this update took so long! I'll try to do better next time.

Hmm…Ed and Hakkai in a fight. Well, Ed's would want it to be physical because of his temper, but Hakkai would look for a peaceful solution (like cards). It's hard to say who would win. I imagine it would be a very, very long game. -

JMJV: Glad you like. Its good to here that the story makes sense. I've got a good deal of time passing in this story, so I didn't want it to drag on. Speeding over times when nothing is happening helps move it along, but I was worried that it might be confusing. I'm glad it's not!


	8. Icy Violent Violet

11

Hello everyone! Look, I'm still alive! Sorry its taken so long to update. I graduated from college! Yay! But that meant I had to move back home (because I have _no_ money) and I'm looking for a _real job_. So I've been busy. Plus I lost my disks for a while. But I'm still working on this story and plan to finish it! So don't lose hope if you like it. 

Since last chapter was so fluffy, I decided to go with a less fluffy POV this time…Sanzo. This will also let me add some more Saiyuki.

Disclaimer: I still don't own FMA or Saiyuki. I did just buy Weiss Kruez on DVD! Sorry, I know that doesn't have anything to do with anything, but I had to share with people who might get how cool that is and how excited I am (it hasn't got here yet, I bought it on E-bay, and its killing me!). My family just says 'that's nice'.

Warning: Sanzo, so language. That's about it.

* * *

Ch. 7

Icy Violent Violet

_Piercing my heart with those eyes… _

_I'm sent to eternity over and over._

_--'Love or Dead?' Sanzo character study, Saiyuki, book 3_

Fuck. The blonde brat and the smug general were stupid enough to fall off a cliff because of some spikey-haired, shape-shifting, skort-wearing _freak_, and now Goku was making like a bloodhound to track them down, so, of course, he had to go too. It had been quite some time since they'd been to a town, the soldiers were grumbling, that perverted kappa (1) was looking at him funny (if the cockroach(2) didn't get laid regularly he got desperate, but it would be inconvenient to shoot him until necessary), and, to top it all off, _HE WAS ALMOST OUT OF CIGARETTES_! Genjo Sanzo was not a happy camper.

It had only been a day since the last battle, when the diminuative alchemist and General Mustang had fallen from the cliff, but it had been a very long day. The foreigners had promptly freaked out and Hakkai had been especially distressed—which meant for a whole lot of 'oh dears' and silent angst. Well, most of the foreigners had freaked out. That blonde woman—Hawkeye?—had kept her cool. With a couple of well-placed bullets, shot with skill Sanzo respected, she had her people under control and a search party formed. The search party consisted of most of the people of Mustang's little group. The one who stood out was the tall blonde kid, Al, who was panicking much like Hakkai—very politely and considerately. The missing blonde kid's brother, or something. Goku had offered to scent them out, and volunteered Sanzo to come along, and, of course Hakkai wouldn't be left behind. It was surprising how close he had become to Ed. Despite his friendliness, Hakkai truthfully got close to very few people. And, finally, Gojyo had tagged along too. He thought that Sanzo didn't realize that he spent the time alternating between watching Hawkeye's ass and his own. Just one touch, and Sanzo would forget all about what the aspects (3) said.

What the fuck was up with Gojyo's horniness, anyway? It was as if the man needed sex like food or something. Celibacy was one of the few priestly virtues (4) that Sanzo practiced, and he'd never found it that hard. Which was why Gojyo's attentions were particularly irritating. Of course Sanzo had been hit on before, but the constant attention was more than he was used to. Most people backed off after a well-placed glare, insult…gunshot. At first, Gojyo had too. But he must be getting some kind of tolerance to it, because lately he just laughed all off the above off. The attention was giving Sanzo a weird feeling. His skin felt heavy, hot, as if Gojyo's gaze were palpable. It was disturbing.

They'd been traveling quite a while and Sanzo was almost ready to take out another smoke. He'd had to ration his cigarettes (_dammit!_), and it had been a while since he'd last had one. Luckily Goku had picked up a scent (5) a while ago, and so the foreigners were panicking less. Still, things were a little tense. Along with worrying about the boy, Hakkai was also worried about Jeep. They'd had to leave him alone with the soldiers because Hakkai didn't want him to change form in front of them yet, and he couldn't follow them in jeep form.

Yes, both groups were still keeping secrets from each other. For instance, the foreigners were being very cagey about the shape-shifter. And they'd chosen not to explain about jeep or that if Goku and Hakkai lost their power limiters, they'd probably go insane and kill them all. Little things like that.

They'd worked their way carefully down the crumbly limestone cliffs before following Goku downstream as he sniffed the air, searching for a scent. They'd been lucky, the two missing foreigners apparently got out of the river on the same side of the stream. They were now following Goku away from the stream into the thickly wooded mountainous area. Or an area that had been mountainous at one time. Long years of erosion had worn once grand mountains into rocky hills. Most likely the two missing people had taken up residence in one of the many caves hidden in the rocks. If they were lucky, they'd been found by neither youkai nor shape-shifters. In skorts.

Sanzo trudged through the thick undergrowth behind the group, trailed only by Gojyo, who really was an ass man, apparently. Every time he looked at the group of foreigners, his respect for the blonde woman, Hawkeye, went up another notch. She deftly kept her people together and cogent while comforting Al, yet still managed to look crisp and neat. Hakkai was hiding his worry behind a pleasant façade and carefully checking up on everyone, carrying water battles like he was the group's denmother. Goku looked rather like a dog, sniffing the air, vegetation, and ground, following the scent trail. Like a dog, he'd expect a big treat and a lot of praise when they found the missing people. Well, he'd deserve it Sanzo admitted grudginly. Sanzo was not one given to praising others. Nor did he care to be praised himself.

Looking back a Gojyo, he saw that the man's gaze was once again fixated on his ass. Damn. He should have worn the robe. He'd left his priestly robes behind to trail through the thick underbrush because he did not want it to get torn and snagged. He'd already had to patch it up far too many times thanks to claws and nails and teeth and a million other hassles. But that left him in only his tight black pants, top, and armwarmers, which left his body much more exposed than usual. And Gojyo was taking advantage of the view. Sanzo suppressed a shiver with irritation. It was bad enough that Gojyo was looking at him like he was lunch, but he _would not_ allow himself to react to the predatory gaze.

Luckily for Sanzo the group approached a cave within the hour and found Ed and Mustang waiting for them there. The boy looked all right, though he was wearing only his tight black pants and an oversized white shirt that must have been Mustang's. The general was dressed in his usual uniform sans said white shirt, his open coat revealing a tight tank-top. Sanzo left the curiosity at finding the boy in the general's shirt to those members of their party with more prurient sensibilities—aka, Gojyo. When the two emerged from the cave, smiling in welcome, the relief and gaity of their friends was tangible. Al ran forward excitedly shouting.

"Ed! Brother!" Alright, so that settled the 'are they brothers' question. There really was a strong resemblance, despite the height difference.

Most of the others, including Hakkai, also hurried forward to greet the found pair. Goku looked back at Sanzo, pride shining in his eyes, and Sanzo gave a reluctant nod of acknowledgement. From most people it would be considered faint praise, but from Sanzo it was enough to make Goku's face light up in a huge smile. Sanzo would never understand why the boy cared so much for him. Sure, he'd saved the boy, but that was only to shut him up (6). He knew that he'd not been a kind guardian, but Goku happily shrugged his angst and anger aside and acted like he was everything important and good in the world. It was baffling.

After a few moments of celebration, the party turned and headed back to the campsite. Sanzo hung back from the celebrants. Part of the reason he hung back, the reason he would have given if asked, was to look out for youkai. The others were so overjoyed to find Ed and Mustang alive and well that they were no longer paying attention to the forest around them, and they still had enemies out there. The real reason he hung back, though, was to avoid the happiness, and the closeness that such happiness brought. The last thing he wanted was to become part of the big happy family. He was not that close to anyone, even Goku, even Hakkai. He'd learned long ago that closeness brought only pain (7). Without great love, there can be no great heartbreak, without friendship no betrayal. He lived for himself and he would die for himself, not for the people, or the gods, or friends.

For a moment, Sanzo was so caught up in his silent reverie that he did not notice that he was not the only one to hang back. Gojyo followed, slightly behind him to the right. The kappa, for once, was not looking at his ass, not looking at him at all. Instead he was gazing forward thoughtfully. _Thoughtfully, huh? Not likely_. Sanzo smirked to himself, silently calling the redhead's mental capacity into question.

As if he read Sanzo's mind, Gojyo looked at him that moment. For a minute his eyes were solemn, dark, as if he thought thoughts that put the weight of the world on his shoulders. But that look lasted but a small bit of time before a wry, lecherous look came over the kappa's face. Gojyo's eyes traced up and down Sanzo's body, appreciating the clingy clothes and slender, taut body. Sanzo was perhaps a bit too thin, but otherwise nearly perfect, like a dream. Sanzo narrowed his eyes, glaring in response to the overtly sexual look. Yes, Gojyo clearly was becoming immune to his threats and glares. Sanzo might have to actually hurt him soon.

"You could go up there, you know. Most of them wouldn't care, but Hakkai'd be happy and Goku'd be ecstatic." The redhead gave Sanzo a knowing look, like he knew that the priest would not go and why. Sanzo gritted his teeth.

"Hakkai's happy anyway, and Goku's always ecstatic. I am surprised you're not up there. I see several attractive blondes you could be feeling up."

"Right now I only see one attractive blonde, but I don't think we're at 'feeling up' yet." Gojyo smirked at Sanzo, risking death.

For a moment Sanzo was speechless. He felt his eyes widen, hating the evidence of his surprise. Gojyo had not hit on him so blatantly since they'd first met and he'd nearly shot the kappa. At the moment, he was regretting the almost. What he hated even more than the implied disrespect, than the blatant sexual interest, was his own body's reaction. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, his pulse quickened, and he felt warm. He hid the reaction rather well, but could not hide the blush that rose on his cheeks. It was faint and on most would not have shown, but Sanzo's porcelain skin was so fair that the blush shown as clearly as the painted rose on a doll's cheek. Gojyo's smirk widened into a full-on leer.

"Keep looking at me like that and the only thing you'll be feeling is a bullet between the legs," Sanzo growled dangerously. He slipped his hand behind his back to where his gun was resting in the waistband of his pants. Normally he kept it in a hidden pocked in a sleeve in his robes, but, since he wasn't wearing his robes, he'd had to find a new place. He pulled the gun out, fingering it lovingly, not caring if Gojyo saw.

Gojyo chuckled softly, wandering closer to Sanzo. In their distraction, they'd let the others pull far enough ahead to give them privacy. No one would hear their conversation.

"I know you don't want to admit it, but you're a human being Sanzo. You need to eat, sleep, and fuck, just like the rest of us. You need to touch, to have friends and lovers. And one day, you'll have to admit it. You'll have to admit to having a heart. And I intend to be there when you do. But for now, I'll settling for you admitting to a libido."

Sanzo's heart jumped a bit as Gojyo's voice became even deeper and huskier than usual. Dammit, the man was right, something Sanzo had no intention of ever admitting. Sanzo thought he'd left such…reactions…behind when he'd left adolescence, but apparently not. He didn't know what it was about Gojyo—the man annoyed the hell out of him—but, at the moment, some part of him wanted to give in to the dark promise in that crimson gaze. Instead he turned quickly, jerking his arm up in a smooth, practiced motion, and put his gun directly between Gojyo's eyes, resting its muzzle on his skin.

"Listen to me now, Gojyo," Sanzo's voice was dangerously soft. "I do not want you. I do not want to have sex with you. I _will_ kill you if you keep pushing me." Each lie was emphasized with a slight push of the gun and the icy violent violet of Sanzo's eyes.

Gojyo gazed back into Sanzo's eyes for a moment, seeing the uncertainty and fear below the ice…then he backed off, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. He'd let Sanzo lie…for now. But not forever.

The treck back to the main camp was much quicker than the one to the cave. Rather than walking back down to the river, they quickly found the main road and followed it back. Despite Sanzo's caution, nothing happened on the trip. Gojyo stayed back with Sanzo though, to watch the foliage for enemies. He wouldn't leave the priest alone or the party unprotected.

When they reached the camp a cry of happiness was put up by the rest of the foreigners. Particularly loud was the very large blonde general, Armstrong. Much to their consternation, he picked up both Ed and Mustang at once, twirling around happily. Mustang put up with it with a slightly peeved but mostly tolerant expression, while Ed complained and shouted for the big man to put him down. The rest of the night was spent in a party atmosphere, the whole group too excited to worry about enemies or ambushes. Which, of course, set Sanzo on edge even more.

It would be hard to say what bothered him more—the complete disregard for safety by supposed military men, or the jubilant party atmosphere—but he was thouroghly peeved. No one seemed to mind much as he sat by himself. Goku was used to his moods and Gojyo had shaken his strange mood from earlier and joined the celebration, dancing with a pretty young female liutenant and an equally pretty young male private. He seemed to have found beer somewhere, and was past tipsy well on his way to drunk. As Sanzo sat brooding, Hakkai joined him.

Though Hakkai was overjoyed to have Ed back, he didn't like parties any more than Sanzo. He was more the type to enjoy a quiet evening by the fire with a few close friends. Sanzo…well, Sanzo never really seemed to _enjoy_ anything, but he preferred solitude and quiet. Hakkai worried about giving him too much solitude in which to brood.

"Hello Sanzo," Hakkai greeted in his usual soothing tones, good humor restored by their success today. "Can I get you anything?"

"Hello. No, I don't want anything." Sometimes Hakkai's tendency to act like a motherhen or a servant annoyed Sanzo. Right now he just wanted to be alone. But Hakkai's presence was acceptable. The man knew how not to make himself a huge nuisance, something Goku had yet to learn. Gojyo knew, too, but enjoyed being a nuisance.

"I am glad we found them. I was worried, especially for Ed. He seems to have some sort of medical condition." Sanzo raised his eyebrows at this. He was unaware anything was wrong with the boy. If anything, Ed seemed very healthy.

"Oh, I know it doesn't show much, but the others treat him a little carefully sometimes, and he was very weak and tired after the first ambush." Hakkai felt a little guilty about sharing something Ed clearly did not want everyone to know, but he knew that Sanzo would tell no one. After all, Sanzo had kept Hakkai's secrets for years. Many people wondered why kind, selfless Hakkai was so close to cold, distant Sanzo. What they didn't realize was how much Hakkai owed Sanzo—for saving his life and accepting him (8). Not many people would accept Hakkai if they knew his secrets, but Sanzo had never judged him. He also liked to think he read Sanzo better than most people. As cold as he acted, Sanzo cared about them all and was a good person in general. He didn't really want to be, but he was. Sanzo was just in so much pain…

"Hm." Sanzo didn't have any real comment about the boy's health. He hadn't slowed them down much yet (at least prior to falling off a cliff), and had actually been a great help trying to figure out the gates. Between Ed, Al, and Sanzo they'd learned a lot about them, and would hopefully be able to close them one day soon. Whatever the gates were about, they were somehow helpful to their enemies and so must be destroyed.

"I know you said you didn't want anything, but I thought you might like some tea and soup. I could make you some." Hakkai didn't want to annoy Sanzo, but the man hadn't eaten anything since that morning. Sanzo had a bad habit of forgetting to eat. Hakkai was happy when Sanzo grunted his assent.

They sat at the edge of the camp in jeep, gazing into the night, enjoying the solitude and tea. Ed probably would have joined them, but couldn't sneak away from the party…his brother in particular. They sat there, separate from the others but not lonely with each other's company, until the party had died down and the stars stood out bright against the black sky.

Exhuasted from worry, searching, and partying, the majority of the camp fell into a weary sleep at about midnight. No one noticed when Private Jeremy Landis, the pretty young man Gojyo'd spent a good bit of the night dancing with, woke up with a full bladder and wandered off into the brush to relieve himself. No one heard the slight scuffle of a struggle ended all too quickly. No one noticed if Private Landis smiled a little more broadly than usual the next morning, or laughed a little too much. No one noticed if he stared at Ed a little too much the following morning, or if he had his eye on Sanzo's sutra. And no found Private Landis' body hidden under dead leaves ten feet from the campsite for a long, long time.

* * *

This is the little information corner for those who aren't familiar with Saiyuki. If you know it, you might want to skip this part. Contains spoilers from the manga.

(1) Saiyuki is actually based on an ancient Chinese legend about the monkey king named Goku (incidentally, he is the inspiration for Goku on DBZ, hence the tail), a virtuous monk (ha!), a pig (that they somehow translated into Hakkai), and a water demon or kappa (Gojyo). When they refer to Gojyo as a "perverted kappa" it's a reference to the legend and the fact that Gojyo's, well, a lech.

(2) Gojyo's hair is long and very red and its got two pieces always sticking up from the front (like Ed's antenna in the middle of his bangs part). They really do look like some antenna, and so the others call him cockroach as an insult.

(3) The three aspects are kind of like liasons between Heaven (or Gaiden) and the priests. They are the ones who told Sanzo to go on this quest in the first place, and they told him to take Goku, Hakkai, and Gojyo with him.

(4) He cusses, smokes, drinks, gambles, and, oh yeah, kills people!

(5) Goku's not human, but he's not really a youkai either. He's a heretic, a creature born from the rocks of the Earth itself. He's really powerful, and has super sharp senses. He has to wear a demon limiter (his gold crown) to keep his powers under control. When he takes it off he's much stronger, but tends to go insane and try to kill everyone. FYI, the only one who's really 100 human is Sanzo. He has very strong spiritual powers and can use the sutras, which are also very powerful. He's also a very good shot. Hakkai used to be human, but there's an old legend that if you bathe in the blood of a thousand youkai, you'll become a youkai yourself. Apparently it's true, as Hakkai found out. He's also very powerful, and wears a demon limiter (ear cuffs) to keep his powers under control. The power limiters also protect them from the minus wave, which is the reason all the rest of the youkai have gone homicidal. Gojyo is a half-breed, half human and half youkai. He's stronger and faster than most humans, but not as powerful as Goku or Hakkai. His blood-red hair and eyes are marker characteristics that let the world know he's a half-breed.

(6) Goku committed a crime against heaven (I'm not sure what) and was locked into a cave for 500 years (his memories locked away), where all he could see was the sky. He was alone all that time. (In book 7 there was a sad little side story about a bird that came and kept him company, and how he cried when the bird died). When Sanzo was a boy, out on his own, he heard a voice calling to him. He eventually followed the voice to the mountain when he was a young man/older teen and found and freed Goku. The first thing Goku noticed about him was his hair, which was 'like the sun'. Sanzo went up the mountain to knock the owner of the annoying voice in the head, but when Goku looked up at him like that, he couldn't. They've been together (not in a hentai way) ever since.

(7) As an infant Sanzo was discovered floating in a river by Komyou Sanzo. Komyou saved him and raised like a son. Even as a child Sanzo was not very happy or open, but he did love Komyou. So when Komyou died protecting him, right in front of him, it was a big blow that he never really recovered from. Ever since, Sanzo has tried to avoid becoming close to anyone (I say tried because he really does care about Goku, Hakkai, and Gojyo, even if he would never admit it).

(8) Hakkai killed a lot of people in his home village after they gave his sister (who was also his lover) to a clan of pillaging youkai. He also destroyed the whole youkai clan, who raped and hurt his sister (she killed herself because they got her pregnant). That was the thousand youkai he killed that ended up turning him into a youkai, as well. Sanzo was given the task of hunting him down and bringing him to the three aspects for judgment. He did so and then spoke for Hakkai, pleading for mercy for him, even though Hakkai did not ask for it. Mercy was granted.

* * *

Sorry there wasn't a lot of action in this chapter, but there will be more soon! Hope you like this chapter.

Gallactica1: Glad you liked last chapter. Thought it'd be a popular one. I'm just so happy that people like my story that I'm glad to respond to all my reviews! You'll see more of Roy and Ed next chapter, and I hope I can keep up the characters! Thanks for reading!

Grasshopper: Glad to see you're still reading! I'm glad you liked the hair bit…its very sensual to play with your lover's hair, or have them play with yours. I thought it'd be a nice way to break the ice. I couldn't have them go all the way through without an angst attack, though, not the way I've been playing up the Ed-torture! Plus it leads nicely into that hurt-comfort thing you mentioned. As for the crying thing…every time I hear a little kid really cry, not just attention-getting, but really cry, I notice that. I remember crying like that when I was a kid, but I rarely do anymore. I think its one of the things we lose when we grow up that we really shouldn't—really crying is a lot more healing than the smothered, muffled way an adult cries. So I thought I'd put that in. And, of course, the lemon had to be sexy without being NC17. I hope I pulled that off—it would suck if a FF admin was looking around and decided that the scene was too racy for an M rating. I liked that last line, with the moth-fire metaphor, too. I was really on a role and feeling poetic. Couldn't do that too much in this chapter—Sanzo uber-smart, but not poetic, at least, not pretty-poetic. I'm trying to do Envy as a sexy, creepy villain that makes all kinds of shivers run up your back…like Muraki in Yami no Matsuei. I agree that the right amount of angst rocks. No angst and I'm not interested, but too much angst and I want to kill myself. Please let me know if I cross the line into whiney! I really don't want to do that! I'm glad you like Ed, you'll see more of him next chapter. And I think I will update Envy's outfit! Glad you don't mind waiting, I'll try to get chapters out as quickly as I can! See ya next time -! (I always look forward to reading your reviews, you right nice, specific ones!)

JMJV: As you can see, the rest of the cast has returned! I'm glad you liked the fluff. I love angsty stories, but all angsty stories need some fluff or its too much! The proper angst-fluff diet is necessary for both the fanfic writer and reader! Keep on reading!

Terra89: Glad you liked chapter 6! I liked it too -. I love yaoi—I was happy when I started reading manga and fanfics and found out I wasn't the only one. But its not all I read. I like non-yaoi stories as well, though I tend to prefer a male lead character. I don't know why, most female leads don't catch me, they are too girly or written like the author has something to prove. But I still like non-yaoi, and I like reading fanfiction that turns non-yaoi into yoai evil grin! I'll update as frequently as I can! See ya!

Ranger: Glad to know you're still reading! Feel free to drop me a line even if you don't have much to say! I'm glad you like the characterizations. I haven't seen the Saiyuki anime, so this is based on the manga and its kinda twt, though I've read through book 7, Saiyuki Gaiden (its really good), and part of Saiyuki Reloaded (found them online). I know it sucks how you buy a movie when it comes out, and then they put it on sale or release a director's cut or something! I can't really afford best buy anymore, but you can find a lot of cheap anime on E-bay. I only paid 24.50 total for the entire series of Weiss Kruez in a collectors box. You might want to check out their site for your future anime needs. (I know I bought a series called Tsukihime from Best Buy, the first DVD was only 20.00, but the 2nd and 3rd are 30!). Anyways, I'll keep writing, so look for future chapters.

Lazeralk: I'm glad you like it! I think a lot of people have missed Red West because this is such a big fandom and its growing so rapidly. I can't believe its already at the point where you can choose characters and stuff! I started reading FMA here months ago when there were only like 500 fics total! I love Roy/Ed, they are so cute when they tease eachother! Ed's automail is cute, but I want him to get his arm and leg back. I owed him that after I let Envy torture him. I haven't seen any other FMAxSaiyuki either. I'll keep writing, so I hope you'll keep reading!

Kurome Shiretsu: I like Roy/Ed interaction too! I don't know why, but I like the oversized shirt thing. Something very sexy about that to me. And I couldn't leave Ed all upset, could I? Besides, Roy's gonna need to know how to comfort him, Ed's not gonna get over all his issues overnight! As you see, the rest of the cast is back! I wanted to go Sanzo POV for this chapter because he's my favorite Saiyuki character, plus he's not at all fluffy, and the last chapter was fluffy, so it'll be a nice contrast! I know that realistically Ed should have gotten sick, but I don't want him to, so we'll just say that Roy got him…ahem…warm in time. Anyway, please keep reading. You're another reviewer who consistently gives me great, specific reviews. Ja ne!

Climax: Sorry it took so long for the update! Glad you liked the chapter. We all know that Roy and Ed just had to get together eventually! You're right, I'd like to see a pic of Roy's expression when he and Ed make love…that'd be sexier to me than a full on nude pic. As for the perversion…well, that's what fanfiction is all about…getting to do what you want with the characters! Glad you're still reading! Ja ne!

MystWynd: Glad you like the story! I was watching FMA and I thought that the stories were very different, but had a very similar tone. They came together rather naturally for me. So I'm glad another fan of both series like the way they're coming together as well! Thank for the compliment on my writing style. Keep reading! See you next time you review!

Tsunamisiren3264: Glad you like! I haven't decided how much Ed will tell the Sanzo group. He'll have to tell them some, since some of the sins are involved…right now I'm leaning towards telling everything, at least to Sanzo and Hakkai, since they've also got angsty pasts. What do you think? I hope you keep reading! Thanks for reviewing!

Senna Robbins: I'm glad you like! I'll update as frequently as I can! Thanks for reviewing!

Cyblade Silver: Hi! Glad you like! Thanks for reviewing, and I'll update as soon as possible!

Meemee: Sorry the updates are taking so long, I'll keep them up as much as possible! Thanks for reading!

If anyone reviewed and I did not reply, please let me know so I can fix it!


	9. Crash and Flutter of Black Waves of Wing

Ch. 8

Crash and Flutter of Black Waves of Wings

_Because I'm a hungry lil' animal…_

_I'll bite down on your soul and never let go._

_--Goku character study, Saiyuki book 4_

Ed's body seemed to be sensitized. Every breeze, every shift in temperature and movement, seemed to skate across his nerves like silk skimming across water. And it was all revolved around General Mustang…Roy. It was like he could feel the man's presence, a distant warmth always at the edge of his consciousness. He could feel the heat of his gaze when coal eyes looked at him, even momentarily. They were drawn to each other, and miserable trying to hide it.

"Ed? Ed? Brother…"

"What?" Ed snapped his head around, realizing that Al had been talking to him when he'd let his attention drift. He was torn. He wanted to tell Al about Roy, but the two of them had agreed to keep their relationship a secret for now. They were in a tense situation and needed to remain as professional as possible…plus Al just might kill Roy.

"Brother, are you alright? You've been distracted ever since you fell into the river. You're not sick, are you?" Al was alarmed at the thought that his brother had been ill and hiding it. And he would hide it, too, the stubborn mule.

"No, Al, I'm fine. I was just thinking…. I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

Al stared at his brother for a moment, trying to judge his sincerity. As a rule, Ed didn't lie much, but he wasn't above stretching the truth and did it well when need be.

"Maybe we should take a break. We've been working on this all morning." They'd been trying to break the code on the gates using what they'd learned of the sutra and alchemical elements. First in the car, now in the cool shade provided by a scraggly tree after the group had stopped to take a lunch break.

"Yeah, you're right. A break and then we'll be refreshed. I'm gonna go for a walk—been sitting too long."

"O-okay, but don't go too far!"

"You worry too much, little brother."

Casting a meaningful glance in Roy's direction, Ed made his way quietly into the nearby wood. A few minutes later Roy made some excuse and joined him there. The only one who noticed was Hakkai, who kept his silence with amusement. He was happy for Ed, even if it could be a potentially difficult relationship.

The forest provided quiet relieve from the dry, dusty road. It was soothing to listen to the birds and other small creatures that lived in the trees—they made a nice early warning system, for they would fall silent if youkai approached. Ed leaned casually against a tree, trying to hide the tension in his body. A quiet rustling announced the arrival of his lover.

Roy walked up to Ed like a dream, some fire elemental come to burn away everything with desire. He unbuttoned his jacket and shrugged it off, letting in lie in the dry leaves. Reaching Ed, he wrapped his arms around the smaller body and lowered his mouth to take Ed's in a hot, wet kiss. Ed pressed up into that kiss as his slender, clever hands began working at the buttons on Roy's shirt, trying to work their way to the smooth skin below. Roy's large, gloved hands worked their way under Ed's shirt and up his back, making Ed shiver with their roughness. Ed wrapped his right leg around Roy's hips and moved to align their bodies as closely as possible. It wasn't close enough and Ed growled with frustration.

Roy moved his hands from underneath Ed's shirt and took off his left glove. He moved that hand up to clutch at the silky mass of Ed's hair, pulled back in a low ponytail. His right arm moved lower, lifting Ed up and against the tree. Ed wrapped both leg's around Roy's waist as he was lifted from the ground and their hips aligned perfectly. Positioned correctly, the two began to grind at each other. Their breath came in hot, frantic little puffs, and Roy buried his head at the junction where Ed's neck met his shoulder.

Ed closed his eyes and bit his lip as the needy pull in his groin grew more and more frantic. Something in his lower belly tightened and coiled and he was on the cusp of ecstacy…and then Roy grown deeply, throatily in his ear and began shuddering his climax. Ed quickly followed, spots of white dancing across his vision.

Afterwards, still breathing heavily, Ed gingerly lowered himself to the ground. His pants, like Roy's, were thick enough to hide the evidence of their mating, but to walk around with said evidence inside his pants…eww.

Hearing a small, throaty chuckle, Ed looked up. Roy walked over to his coat and reached in to pull out two hankerchiefs.

"I came prepared."

Goku was _bored_. And hurt. He'd tried talking to Sanzo and had had his head bitten off! He'd run away when Sanzo had pulled that dangerous fan out of nowhere. He hated that fan! (1) Hakkai was busy helping to organize and prepare lunch, and Gojyo…Gojyo'd been acting weird lately. He spent a lot of time staring at Sanzo, but hadn't gone out of his way to annoy him as much. But the staring seemed to make Sanzo more irritable than ever. Goku sighed.

He didn't know any of the foreigners! They'd seemed nice at first, but had been scared when they saw the Sanzo group fight for the first time. Since then they all acted like he was a pet wolf—friendly for the most part, but still not tamed, still not trustworthy, still dangerous. He wouldn't hurt them! He just wished he had someone to talk to. Goku kicked a rock in the road in frustration and loneliness.

"Hey there!"

Goku turned at the chipper greeting and saw one of the foreigners, a young man who looked to be about eighteen or nineteen. He was an inch or two taller than Goku and very pretty with dark brown hair and big blue eyes. He wore a big, friendly smile on his open and honest face.

"Hi!" Goku was relieved someone wanted to talk to him. Finally!

"You're Goku, right? I just wanted to tell you that you fight great! I've never seen anything like it! You're so fast!"

"Thanks!" Goku grinned shyly. He wasn't used to getting compliments, especially not from strangers, especially not about his fighting skills. Maybe a 'good job' from Hakkai or Gojyo, but nothing like this frank admiration.

"Oh, I'm making a fool of myself! I'm sure you've got lots more important things to do than talk to me!" The young man seemed kind of crestfallen and turned to walk away.

"No, wait! I don't really have anything to do, I'd like to talk to you!…um, what's your name?" Goku wasn't about to let someone who was near his age (2), interested in talking, and _not_ afraid of him get away.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Private Jeremy Landis at your service," the boy said with a sharp salute and a sly grin, "but you can just call me Jerry!"

The lunch stop was only about an hour, but Goku and Jerry spent the whole time talking. When the troop stopped for the evening, they found each other again. Jerry talked Goku into sparring with him a little bit, then they wandered off so Goku could show off his tracking abilities.

"Its just so neat! I can't believe how good your sense of smell is! And if not for you, we'd probably never have found the General or the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

"The who?"

"Oh, you don't know his title? Edward Elric is the Fullmetal Alchemist. Whenever an alchemist is certified by the army, they become an official state alchemist and are given a title by the higher ups! Edward Elric became the youngest state alchemist ever at only twelve years old! Anyway, his title is the Fullmetal Alchemist. General Mustang's is the Flame Alchemist!" Jerry took a long breath after he explained the titles in a rush.

"Why Fullmetal and Flame?" Goku was curious. He wondered why the General or Ed hadn't said anything. He'd met them both when he was at Sanzo's side, but hadn't really had much of a chance to get to know them.

"Well, Flame because the General is and expert in fire alchemy. I don't really know why Fullmetal, except that he works with metal a lot."(3) Jerry looked perplexed for a moment, but shrugged it off.

At the end of the night, before they returned to camp, Jerry surprised Goku by hugging him. It had been a while since Goku had been hugged—Sanzo wasn't a big fan of close physical contact. Hugging Jerry was different from hugging Sanzo (those few times he'd managed to sneak close enough to steal a hug). Jerry was warm and firm and soft and so close. He smelled fresh and clean and just a little salty, and his breath was hot in Goku's ear.

"I think you're really special, Goku," Jerry whispered before pulling back to smile shyly. Goku just stared back at him for a few minutes before returning an equally shy smile. He didn't understand the feelings whirling about in his lower belly, hot and confusing. But he liked it.

The next day started off in a sweltering miasma of heat and humidity. Ed's messy bangs stuck to his face and got in his eyes, annoying him to no end. Everyone seemed to have a fine layer of perspiration covering them, making the camp aromatically unpleasant, and tempers frayed. Even Hakkai and Al looked grumpy, even Hawkeye looked frazzled. Havoc seemed intent on smoking as many cigarettes as he could before the drive started—he knew that none of his passengers would allow him to smoke in the car. Considering who his passengers were, he tried not to piss them off too much. Even his cigarettes seemed soggy in the heavy, wet air.

The camped packed, the long drive started with an air of dread. It was one of those days when you really shouldn't do anything other than lay around in as little clothes as you could get away with. Even riding in a car seemed a hassle end a chore. The line of cars trudged through the forest like a line of lazy, drunk ants, meandering without any energy. By mid morning, Al and Ed had agreed to not worry about uncoding the gates until they'd taken a rest. Al quickly leaned back and followed the example Hawkeye set by taking a nap. Ed exchanged glances with Roy.

Since they'd become lovers, sitting in a car with Roy and not touching him was a form of tortuous distraction. Even now he knew that Roy was awake, though the man had his eyes closed. It was if there was an electric link between them that sizzled and sparked constantly. As if in response to Ed's gaze, Roy opened his eyes and returned his look. In those coal eyes burned the same yearning that Ed felt in his gut. It was going to be a very long day.

As the day dragged on the troop was surprised to see signs of civilizations. There was no village on the map the Sanzo group had, but the map was, admittedly, faulty. So, at noon, the whole troop was pleased to see a village in the near distance. As they drove closer, however, an ominous atmosphere filled the air.

When the cars reached the village a short while later, it quickly became apparent the reason for the dread air. The stench was what was first noticable. That horrible, distinct sweet smell of rotting flesh and carnivore offal. When they drove to the village the only movement was the crash and flutter of black waves of wings as crows milled around their macabre feast.

The whole village was dead. It had been massacred, corpses strewn about the street and left to rot. Most of the corpses were too decayed and eaten to be identifiable, but many of the corpses, too many it seemed, were small and frail. Children.

The corpse village was the Armestrian's first true taste of the tragedy encompassing all of Shangri La (4).

Mwahahahaha….

(1) Sanzo carries around a folding fan which he can seem to pull out of thin air. It's like he has three levels of threat—yelling, hitting with the fan, then shooting. I believe I read somewhere that the fan is something often carried by high ranking priests to discipline noviates, or something. Needless to say, Goku and Gojyo have been hit with it many, many times.

(2) Goku's actual age is somewhere around 500, but physically he's about 18. While he was in his mountain prison he didn't age at all.

(3) For those who don't know, I think that 'Fullmetal' refers to Ed's arm and leg more than anything else (even though he does work with metal a lot), but almost no one seems to know about that. I assume that that goes for the army as well as civilians, which is why most people assume Al is the Fullmetal Alchemist (being made of metal and all).

(4) I don't think I said before, but the events of Saiyuki take place in Shangri La.

Okay, I think I'm gonna redo Envy's outfit because I don't like skorts. So far I've had one vote for leather hotpants. Any other suggestions?

ayjayaj: Glad to see that you're still reading. I was originally gonna focus more on Ed POV than anything else (he's still the protagonist), but I love the Saiyuki characters too much to leave them out! Thanks for reviewing, keep reading!

Tsunamisiren3264: I plan to keep it up! Please keep reading!

JMJV: Glad you liked last chapter! Hope you liked this one too…especially since you're a Goku fan. This is the first time I've ever tried to write him. Hope he turned out IC. About Goku's crime, I got the feeling from Gaiden that it was more about controlling Nataku than Goku, since Goku was Nataku's only friend. So sad. Anyways, thanks for reviewing, and for the congratulations! Ja ne!

Grasshopper: Ah, another Sanzo fan! He's my fave Saiyuki bishie—so angsty and sullen! Heehee. I LOVE Weiß! I actually like YohjixAya best I think…and I can thank P.L. Nunn for that. She's got a whole Weiß arc with lots of Aya torture (he's my fave Weiß), mostly a la Shuldig. I'll take KenxAya, too. ShuldigxAya NCS…I like Shuldig evil, I don't like it when authors try to write him like he's not really a bad guy. Yes he is, and he loves it! Its what makes him so fun! All of Schwartz is like that, except Nagi. I like Aya as the uke, I guess because he seems so…celibate. I don't see him being the one to initiate it. Plus Ken seems sort of masculine, virile to me…I guess it's the whole jock thing. I really read him as a seme type, even if he isn't a very big guy. P.L. Nunn also influenced how I like my Saiyuki pairings. She's got a Saiyuki arc with lots of Sanzo torture and a good bit of GojyoxSanzo. Look her stuff up at www. bishonenworks. com minus the spaces. Very, very good, but very, very dark. Anyways, I love a pissy Sanzo. He bitches so well, dontcha think? But Gojyo was lucky to survive that chapter. Expect to see more GojyoxSanzo soon! I'm more into abs than asses, myself. I love the lower belly, hip area where the hip bones stick out just a bit and the muscles do that dippy thing… drools . You know, I never thought of the gun as phallic symbol before, but maybe that's why Sanzo so gung-ho to shoot everything (also makes me wander about Aya's katana…). Yes, poor Private Landis…but I had to get Envy back in there somewhere, so he got sacrificed to my muse. Mwahahahahaha. I don't really like Sanzo with Goku a lot because Goku just seems too young to me. Maybe if its in a continuation when Goku's more mature, or playing up his youkai features, or maybe a dark fic when he loses his limiter, but…I don't know. I'm not saying I haven't read SanzoxGoku fics I like, but they have to be sure that it doesn't feel like Sanzo's molesting Goku. A lot of them seem like that because Goku's just so innocent. Ed with Krad-style hair. I don't know whether to drool or be envious. Both. Isn't Ed just so fun to torture. I'll have more of that in the near future. Hmm. I repress my emotions, too. It feels like every time I really let them go, I regret it later. So I just suppress, then avoid. I spend a lot of time daydreaming and reading…hmmm, not a good use of time, but at least I don't get in many fights. Oh, I have read some uber-graphic stuff on I've also read people complaining because shut them down after they posted something innappropriate. Well, I'm glad my stuff's not too graphic. Besides, I really think a good story doesn't need too much smut, it should be able to stand without any pairings. Glad that Envy's coming along well. How do like the latest Envy-twist. Hmm…the four S's. Sounds like Crawford, too. But I have to say, Muraki may just be my favorite villain. Schwartz is close, though. Haven't really seen enough of Envy in the show to be sure about him. I got the whole Ed-obsession thing from other fanfics. Anyway, thanks for reviewing again! Ja ne!

Shihaz'riah: Glad you like! Thanks for reviewing, and keep reading! Ja ne!

Climax: Thank you for the congratulations! I didn't really think about having Sanzo borrowing cigarettes from Havoc, but you're right, he'd never ask. He has a hard enough time asking for things from Gojyo, he'd never ask a favor of a stranger. And you're also right about why Havoc wouldn't share. I got the part about Goku tracking directly from the manga. In book 5 he helps Sanzo track down Hakkai (it's a flashback to when they first met). Yeppers. Gojyo still acts like he's scared of Sanzo when Sanzo points his gun at him, but I figure he can't be too scared or he wouldn't piss Sanzo off so much. Glad you're still reading! I'll keep writing! Ja ne!

Schizo the Mentally Disturbed: Glad you're still reading! Don't sweat it about not reviewing for a chapter, I'm just glad you still like it. I'll get in touch for more Saiyuki details in a few chapters. Don't think I'll need it for Fullmetal Alchemist—I'm kind of making an AU split and making up a different ending for the parts I don't know. I may ask about FMA for another fic I've got in mind at a later date, though. Spilt blood in heaven, hmm. In Gaiden it seemed more like it was about controlling Nataku than anything else…Goku was Nataku's only friend, so Nataku was ordered to kill him kind of thing. But Gaiden ends before the actual event occurs. Anyway, thanks for reading! See ya soon. Ja ne!

Terry-McElrath: Hi! Glad you found this fic and like it. Good to hear that you like the health-Al's body exchange. I really debated with myself about what Ed should have to give, and that worked out the best for the story. Love Ed with super-long hair! Glad you like my characterizations. I'm trying to keep them in character, if a little more mature in some cases. For instance, Ed is a little bit calmer because he's older, a little bit less of a hothead. I like the whole neko-Ed thing. Must be his eyes, the kitten thing just suits him. I felt bad torturing Ed, but…I just love to torture my favorite characters, I can't help it. Yes, Envy isn't finished with him yet. Glad you like the Saiyuki characterizations, I'm trying to keep them pretty close to the manga characters. This is a continuation of FMA, but a TWT for Saiyuki. Thanks for all the effusive praise at chapter 4! I'm glad you like the bracelet thing. I wanted to give him his limbs back (after taking his health and torturing him I owed him that much), but I really thought the blade thing he does in the show is cool…so I compromised. Yeah, Sanzo doesn't have any room to complain about people hiding things from him…but I think he's kind of a control freak, so not knowing about the alchemist would piss him off. I do love the long hair! I'm thinking of a fanfic where Aya from Weiß has long hair, and another with Tsuzuki from Yami with long hair. Hmm. And I've got an idea or two for some GW fics with Duo as the main character…so many ideas, so little time. I wish I could get a job writing fanfics. sighs Yeah, fanficcers seem to love torturing the characters they love. But its so much fun! Poor Ed. And you will see plenty of RoyxEd! Oh, yeah, that Envy being Al thing is so perverse. It just came to me while I was writing that chapter and I had to do it! Glad you like the way Ed and Roy got together. I had to get them alone before it could happen, though. Oh, Hakkai didn't heal Ed because Ed was just exhausted. I'm not really an expert on Chi magic, but I think its mostly to heal wounds and such. Since Ed wasn't actually wounded, there was little Hakkai could do. Plus, Hakkai would have already been drained by the earlier healing, so he really didn't need to waste energy on a problem that could be solved by a nap. Glad you like Sanzo's POV. Yeah, he can admit (to himself) that he's got a libido. But will he ever admit it to anyone else? I like redheads to. My current obsession is Aya, from Weiß (in case you haven't guessed!). I love long hair, but I also like Aya's funky haircut a lot. Glad that the Saiyuki info was helpful. It occurred to me that using Sanzo's POV I made some references that people who don't know about Saiyuki might not understand. Glad you like the story, and keep on reading! Thanks for the congrats! Ja ne!

Senna Robbins: Glad you like the story! Thanks for reviewing! Keep on reading! Ja ne!

Serenity Moon2: Thank you for reading! Glad you like! I'll update as quickly as I can! Ja ne!

Akkarin11: Generally hate RoyxEd shocked! . Just kidding. To each their own. Out of curiosity, what is your fave FMA pairing? Or do you prefer it sans pairings? Anyway, I'm glad that you like this story even though its not your normal kind of pairing. I take that as a real compliment! Thanks for reading! Ja ne!


	10. Carrion Crows are Cunning Creatures

8

Chapter 9

Carrion Crows are Cunning Creatures

_If you're that desperate, then leave town and find another job._

_Kid, I know you can't understand but…_

_The mines are our homes…_

_And our graves._

_--Edward and Youswell Coal Miner, Fullmetal Alchemist, Book 1_

Digging a mass grave is terrible work. The stench of death lingers in the air as the clump, clump, clump of earth being shifted creates the rhythm of a funeral dirge. The dirt gets everywhere, sticks to sweaty skin, making a gritty, grimy blanket broken by trails of sweat dripping down skin like tears. Carrion crows are cunning creatures and sense the impending loss of a meal. Their harsh, angry cries echo and distort the rhythm of the digging. As horrible as digging a mass grave is, though, collecting the bodies is much, much worse. Ed thought that he'd seen enough tragedy and pain to have gained some sort of immunity to it. Ed was wrong.

The broken bodies strewn about the street were horrible enough. But they'd been picked apart, so he could almost pretend they hadn't been people. He could ignore the fact that a large portion of the bodies were so small they had to be children. But inside the homes…inside the homes was another story. The buildings had provided a modicum of protection to the bodies inside them, keeping at least some of the carrion-eaters out. The bodies in the homes were still in good enough condition to be recognized, if only as a type…male, female, adult, child. Mostly women and children, for the men had died in the streets, fighting hopelessly for their lives and families. Ed would never forget the sight that greeted him in one home. It was a mother and three children. Unlike in most other homes, there had been no futile attempts to hide from an enemy who could smell their fear. Instead they'd met their deaths quietly, laying together in bed. The mother was curled around her children and there was a book of fairy stories in her hands. As the village had died horribly around them, she'd read about faraway magical lands to her children (1). Even though the bodies were mauled, they still possessed a quiet kind of dignity.

Ed walked down the street, heartsick, and found his attention grabbed by a curious collection of people. Roy and Al were there, as well as the whole Sanzo group and that young private who'd been hanging around with Goku. It was odd, the private was probably pretty close to his age but, like Goku, seemed so very young to Ed.

As he approached the group he noticed that their attention was on a house, set just outside of the town. Once closer, Ed could see that this house, unlike the others, had not been entered by the invaders. It was securely locked and deadbolted—from the outside. The few windows were very small and sat high up on the house. The stench of rotting meat wafted from those windows, but for a few moments Ed allowed himself to hope that this was some kind of storage house and the smell was from food stores. But he knew that he was kidding himself. There was no mistaking the sickly sweet stench of human flesh.

A warm look from Al and a fleeting glance from Roy was all the acknowledgment Ed received as he joined the group. The rest stared grimly at the locked door. Sanzo lifted his pistol and with three shots in quick succession blew the deadbolt to pieces. The door creaked ominously as it drifted open a few inches. Sanzo gritted his teeth and pulled the door open the rest of the way. The sight that greeted them was heartbreaking. There were at least ten children…the bodies of ten young children. None could have been more than ten years old. It was hard to tell exactly what had happened, but the bodies looked fresher than the corpses of the rest of the villagers. The score marks across their bodies, as if from claws, and the bite marks that clearly showed on several children bespoke a violent death. But it could not have been at the hands of the same group that had killed the rest of the villagers.

"I don't understand…how did these ch-children die? Why were they locked up in here?" Al's voice choked, betraying his tender heart.

"The villagers put them in here…because they were youkai." Sanzo's grim voice matched his visage.

"Youkai children aren't as affected by the minus wave." Hakkai's soft voice answered the confusion on the foreigners' faces. "Before the minus wave, there were some bad youkai, bandits and the like, but most lived peacefully with humans. They were farmers, craftsmen, hunters…normal people. When the minus wave came, they went insane, attacking anything human, like rabid beasts. Humans suddenly found themselves being attacked by youkai that had been their friends and neighbors. But not every youkai is affected the same way by the minus wave."

"Children aren't as affected by it. Some adults resist it, too." Gojyo picked up the tail end of Hakkai's explanation in an uncharacteristically serious manner. "But humans don't trust any youkai anymore. These poor kids were lucky that the villagers just didn't kill them out right. That's what they usually do. These villagers must have been feeling merciful. So they locked up the unchanged youkai kids where they couldn't hurt the village if they went beserk. The door was heavily fortified, the attacking youkai probably didn't even try to get in when they killed everyone in the village."

"But how did these kids die, if not in the attack. They clearly didn't starve to death." Ed tried to remain detached from the scene, but it wasn't really working.

"Stress make youkai more vulnerable to the minus wave. Being locked in here, hearing the villagers die, then being left alone for days with no food or water…one of the children, maybe more, turned. It attacked they others. They ended up fighting to the death." Sanzo's tone was as cold as ever, but the somberness seemed appropriate.

Caught up in the horror of the house, no one noticed the calculating expression that crossed young Private Landis's face, or noticed his callous disregard for the young corpses strewn about the room.

The day passed in eternity as they dug ditches and buried corpses and after a while everyone's sense of horror became numbed. The evening was sadly quiet as the party moved on hoping to find a new campsite. No one wanted to stay in the ghost town, even if it was getting late. The company spent a restless night pretending to sleep, haunted by the horrors of the ghost town.

The next day the party was subdued. There was less laughter and talking, which Goku sorely missed. Luckily for him, Jerry was there. He was happy to distract Goku from the depressing memories of the town and others like it he'd seen. Before long Goku found the conversation turned to his fighting skills once again.

"I just can't believe that someone so young can be as skilled as you!"

"I'm not that young!" Goku argued hotly. Jerry couldn't be much older than twenty. Goku was over 500 years old. "And you haven't seen a tenth of my fighting power!"

"You mean you can get more powerful!" Goku was gratified by the wonder in his friend's eyes.

"Not even Hakkai and Gojyo are a match when I take off my…" Goku suddenly stopped speaking, realizing what he'd almost revealed.

"When you take off your what? Oh, come on! You can't leave me hanging like that!" Jerry leaned forward excitedly.

Goku knew that he shouldn't say anything, but…Jerry was his friend. It was so nice to have someone his age who was so like him in temperment and _wanted_ to hear what he said. He loved the guys, but…Gojyo treated him like an annoying younger brother, Hakkai was so reserved and mature, and Sanzo. Well, half the time Sanzo acted like he didn't even want Goku around. Goku found himself in a position that he'd never faced before. He had a chance to brag to fit in with his peers. Never before exposed to such temptation, he found himself quickly giving in.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone, ok?"

"Yeah, Yeah! Sure thing!"

"See this?" Goku pointed to the bronze filigreed circlet on his head almost hidden behind a fall of bright hair. "Its my power limiter. It keeps my true power suppressed. Without it I'm, like, a hundred times stronger!"

"Wow! Really? Why do you where it then?"

"Because I can't control it. I get caught up in the minus wave, just like the youkai. I go insane and attack…well, everything. And since I'm so strong, its not like anyone can just stop me that easily. Last time it I took it off, I almost killed the guys!"(2)

Goku was too wrapped up in his confession to notice the mercenary gleam in Jerry's eyes. The two spent the rest of the day talking and goofing off, a bright spot amid the gloom of the group.

That night Ed had a nightmare memory. It was the first he'd had since becoming lovers with Roy; he'd hoped they were behind him.

_The sacrificial ceremony was surprisingly clinical in nature considering the tortures which proceeded it. It was overseen by Hoenheim, who approached the array to which Ed lay chained with nothing short of reverence. The homunculi followed suit; for once, even Envy was solemn. The homunculi circled evenly around the array, each standing on a particular symbol. Dante stood quietly outside the circle, watching anxiously. _

_Without word Hoenheim knelt to place his hands on the array. It lit at his urging, a sickly, greenish color. It twisted and wound about the outer portion o f the array, turning a violet color around each of the homunculi. Then, with increasing speed, it raced towards the center of the array; towards Ed. When it reached him it turned a pure golden color._

_Caught up in the array's reaction, Ed was mesmerized. Only once before had he seen the workings of an alchemical reaction this closely; when he'd tried to resurrect his mother. But instead of a seeing the mysterious gate and its macabre guardian, he saw Truth. Every question ever asked was answered, every lie revealed. But the human mind is not equipped to deal with such a propensity of knowledge. Though he tried to hold it the Truth was water slipping through his fingers. Save for a few, immensely precious drops, it slipped away. Those drops, however, would change his life forever._

* * *

(1) I got this idea from the movie _Titanic_. The third-class passengers were locked away below deck so the first and second class passengers could be evacuated first. Most of them went to the gates trying to break free, but one young mother took her kids to bed and told them the story of Tir'na Nog as the ship sank. I thought it was very poignant.

(2) Goku's crown has been taken off twice in the manga. The first time it broke and he almost killed the guys but was stopped by the goddess. The second time he took it off to fight Kougaigi, but almost ended up killing Gojyo, Hakkai, and Sanzo, too. Sanzo was able to create a new power limiter, luckily.

Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out, and it's short, too. I knew what I wanted to do in this chapter, but it just didn't come together for me. So I eventually just pushed ahead and got it out. Its not the best chapter, but there are a couple of important things here. Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter out quicker.

Terry-McElrath: Glad you liked chap. 8. I love to tease my characters with sexual tension! Oh, heck, I just love sexual tension! I've also read a lot of Elricest fics (some are surprisingly good), but no, I'm not implying that here. I simply think that Al would be overprotective of Ed in a relationship with someone older and in a position of authority. He'd also probably be leery of Roy's rep as a heartbreaker. I'm always happy to reply to your reviews because I'm happy to get them! Sorry, again, that this update took so long. I just had problems with this chapter! It was frustrating. Anyway, hope you're still reading, and thanks for reviewing! Ja ne!

Dark Avalon: Glad you liked chap. 8. I love Roy/Ed, too. That's two votes for leather hot-pants so far. Maybe with bitch boots? Or combat boots and fishnets? Maybe I'll go all bondage. Hehe. Bishies rock, and evil bishies usually pull off bondage pretty well! Anyway, keep reading and thanks for reviewing! Ja ne!

Serenity Moon2: Glad you liked the last chapter. Goku is a fun character, but Sanzo is my favorite. Still, I think it's the dynamics between all four that makes Saiyuki rock so much! Sorry it took so long to update, I'll try to do better next time! Ja ne!

Grasshopper: Hello again! Glad you liked the last chapter. I agree that Al is very protective of Ed (and so mature) so that he almost seems like the older brother. Then he goes and does something hopelessly naïve. Roy is always prepare! He's like a dirty boyscout . Yes, poor Goku. His first crush and its someone evil. Mwahaha. Leather hot pants for Envy. With bitch boots, or combat boots and fishnets? Yes, angsty, sullen bishies rock. But I also like some cheerful bishies (like Daisuke in DN Angel), and some confused bishies (like Kazahaya in Legal Drug), and some sweetheart bishies (like Tsuzuki!). My tastes are eclectic. Sanzo/Ran would be fun…so would Gojyo/Ran and Yohji/Sanzo. Hehe. Mix and match! I love YohjixRan. My fav. Weiss pairing! I know that AyaxKen is considered cannon, but I don't really like it for two reasons. 1. Aya has to be the uke! I read him as one of those people who's so in control all the time that when he lets go he lets go all the way! 2. I haven't seen gluhen or side B, where Ken seems to be cooler, only Kapital and fanfiction. What did Ken say to Aya? I'd like to know more about Side B and read more fanfics—do you know any good sites for that? Schuldig can be good when the author writes him as in character but still bearable, but I love him more as a villain. If you want to make him a non-villain, I prefer it to be AU. Which reminds, have you read nekojita? If not, you should! Wonderful Weiss fics (my fav. Weiss author), all YohjixAya. Her shadows arc is a fantasy AU that rocks and her violet eyes arc features Schuldig as the main villain. I love the way she rights Aya and Yohji! While I love Aya as the Uke, I prefer Yohji as a Seme. He just seems so masculine to me—with the great, masculine scent and a five o'clock shadow and a hyperactive libido. Kenken is definitely seme material, but I really want to see him in Side B. He seems so much cooler from what little I've seen. Omi as seme…scary, scary thought. Especially considering what he was wearing the second season of Kapital. I swear that was a girl's outfit. Ah, Sanzo is really a great bitch. Really up there with Aya for emotional problems covered by general bitchiness. If they met they'd either fuck or kill eachother. Or both. Ed-torture, yay! As fun as Sanzo-torture, Aya-torture, Tsuzuki-torture… . Repression works for me, too. I simply repress when I'm angry, then forget about it later. When I'm alone (or driving), I do try to let it out a little, though. I feel like smut should either be blatant—one or two chapters, pure smut for when you just get that itch—or understated—a small part of a much larger story that fits in with the story line. I just can't read chapter after chapter after chapter of smut. Envy is a great villain. As for the gluhen characters…I like Ken's new look, Yohji's makes sense, Aya with long hair rocks (though I miss the eartails and bright red), Shuldig isn't too different, but Crawford and Omi? What the hell? Omi's hair is like navy blue and he gave up his shorts for a business suit, and Crawford…is wearing a monocle. And has white hair. Why? Muraki rocks, Schwartz rocks…don't know much about ff7. I have no gaming system. Why do so many evil bishies have silver hair? Anyway, thanks for reviewing again. I always look forward to reading them! See you next time! Ja ne!

JMJV: Glad you liked the chapter. I did start throwing in Goku out of nowhere…last minute decision…but, don't worry. Jerry really didn't come out of nowhere. If you read the end of chapter 7 again you can probably figure out who he is. If you'd rather wait, he'll be revealed soon! Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! Ja ne!

Schizo the Mentally Disturbed: Thank you! I managed to download the first volume of the net, but it doesn't tell any of that. That helps a lot. Would you mind telling me a bit about Homura? I keep reading his name in the fanfics, but haven't seen him in any of the manga. Thanks again! See ya next time! Ja ne!

A VERY lazy Kitty2satan: Fear not! I hate Mary Janes (and the male equivalent) with a burning passion! Jerry is not a Mary Jane! Go back and read the end of chapter seven and you can probably figure out where he came from. Or wait and all will be revealed soon. I am a RoyxEd fan, but I'm glad the story is still good for those who aren't. That's part of what I'm striving for…a story that can appeal to many people with varying tastes. Thank you for reviewing! Hope to hear from you again! Ja ne!.

Climax: Envy would make a good actor. He could do one of those shows where he played all the characters, hehe. Yes, poor, poor, sweet, naïve Goku. Mwahahahaha. Yeah, I'm hoping it'll be kind of funny when Roy and Ed come out…another kind of Ed torture all-together! Hehe. Thanks for reviewings! I'm glad you're still reading, and I'm sorry this chapter took so long! Next time! Ja ne!

CuriousDreamWeaver: Glad you like! I'll continue writing. Thanks for reviewing! Ja ne!


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